the power and limitations of theatrical imagination, English homework help

Discussion Posting: The power and limitations of theatrical imagination.

Answer: Minimum of 3 full paragraphs required to answer questions below and to elaborate regarding the general theme of the discussion .References and citations in APA style required as needed.

All types of art require, to some extent, our complicity in the artifice of creation in order to allow for true appreciation of the work or object being considered. We are able to “lose ourselves” in music and literature, we are “transported” by paintings and sculpture, we become “involved” in the lives of characters on a stage or screen. Hemingway often said that he endeavored to write one “true” sentence when he worked. For art to be “true” it must seem real to the viewer and this requires a willing suspension of disbelief.

The willing suspension of disbelief is especially necessary in theater. Many years ago–long before it was an award winning film–I saw the play “Driving Miss Daisy” in an small, off-Broadway theater. The play was done without sets or backdrops or decorations of any sort. All that existed onstage were the actors and three wooden stools. The stools were configured in a way to represent the driver’s seat and back seat of an imaginary automobile. Despite the lack of any realia onstage, the performances and script were “true” enough to bring the entire production to life. Within minutes of the opening curtain, the audience “believed” the stools were a car and the characters were interacting in and about a small southern town.

How many of you have seen the film Avatar? In what ways does this film demand our willing suspension of disbelief? Did the things on-screen seem “true” to you? Did you “believe” what you were seeing? If so, how did your willing suspension of disbelief enrich the viewing experience?