THE SPECTATOR IN THE SOCIAL WORLD OF THE THEATRE
THE SPECTATOR IN THE SOCIAL WORLD OF THE THEATRE

Summary/Abstract: In Stebbins’s interpretation of Unruh’s theory, (Stebbins, 2006) in the social world of the performing arts, the strangers would be represented by the individuals involved in the management, administration or technical workshops, the tourists by the general audience, the regulars by the amateur producers of contents, and the insiders by the professionals directly involved in the artistic creation process, directors, actors, scenographers. This systematisation seems extremely vague and, in essence, irrelevant, it is a random classification, rather than a functional one, since it ignores the fundamentally syncretic nature of the theatrical event, denying the spectator’s individuality, as well as any control or influence on the generation of meaning. Undoubtedly, the consideration of the audience as a uniform mass, passively and accidentally receiving a given message is an extremely comfortable perspective for a sociologist, but it does not assist with anything to the spectator’s better understanding and to the understanding of his/ her functional mechanisms. Therefore, a more substantial systematisation is required, since we believe that the theory of the social worlds is an extremely interesting one and particularly fertile in the field of our interest.

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