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Playin' in the Band - The Role of the Audience in Art

It almost goes without saying that the role of the audience stands tall in the arena of the Grateful Dead, with supporters and the fans even being understood as an essential part of the band itself. This works both semantically and philosophically, and recognises both the inherent need for an audience and the particular type of audience that the Dead curated. Jerry Garcia went as far as to suggest that “If it’s a good show, the audience’s role is at least half of what is going on” which again nods to the literal requirement of an audience not only in terms of money but also to observe and participate in the act of creation onstage. If a tree falls & no one is around to hear it, does it play a note?

The cover of Buddy Holly's “Not Fade Away” is often used by both fans and the band to represent and explore that connection, while also expounding on the wider philosophical tenets of the hippie movement. It is one of the band's most performed songs and the audience participates in the rhythm of the song, clapping along to the drum beat. The title itself is deeply embedded in the Deadhead phrasebook, often shortened to ‘NFA’ and used to put into mantra the enduring connection that many fans feel to the band. It was written on the handmade paper ticket a neighbour handed me as a keepsake at a Sphere concert, it's written on t-shirts and bumper stickers, and is a surefire way to spot a Deadhead at a distance. All of this goes to show the egalitarian approach of the band and the community when it comes to both music and symbols, and shows in song form the particular relationship between the band and their audience.

Of course, the Dead aren’t the only people ever to consider this relationship and the possibilities that it can hold; one strand of literary theory that seeks to centre the relationship between performer and audience is that of Bertolt Brecht. His style of theatre sought to do away with the suspension of disbelief and embrace the fictional and constructed nature of the play. This meant carrying out set changes in view of the audience, using placards to share additional information, and even saying of actors “At no moment must he go so far as to be wholly transformed into the character played”. This avowedly Marxist approach to theatre shows actors as workers, and narratives as inherently political. Brecht writes “Without opinions and objectives one can represent nothing at all. Without knowledge one can show nothing; how could one know what would be worth knowing? Unless the actor is satisfied to be a parrot or a monkey he must master our period’s knowledge of human social life by himself joining in the war of the classes”. This is certainly a lot heavier than anything espoused by the Dead though it is fair to say that both centre the relationship between audience and art in ways that are distinct from more commercially minded ventures. The audience can be more than a consumer of entertainment.

A sense of imperfection runs through both the Dead’s approach to music and Brecht's approach to theatre, with the machinery by which the magic operates on full display both in Brecht’s visible set changes and the Dead’s infamous tuning and technical hitch delays. Brecht’s style of theatre sought to educate his audience on political realities of the time, and his position as a German Marxist drove him into exile in 1933. He eventually ended up in Southern California working as a screenwriter, until in 1947 he was among the first people dragged in front of the House of Un-American Activities Committee to explain his political leanings. This understandably gave bad vibes and days later Brecht was heading back to Europe.

There are elements of Brechtian theatre that can, and should, be built on today. There was recently a performance at Kingston University in London of a student play called Surviving 75, a story set in the Dead’s heyday, that seeks to explore this relationship in a way that has been rarely seen on stage. Members of the audience were called upon to make choices at key points in the play deciding who was to live or die and other crucial plot points. The play was expressed in a barebones, Brechtian style, and opportunities for the audience to interact presented a unique interpretation of Hamlet’s claim that “the purpose of playing..is to hold, as ‘twere, a mirror up to nature”. The play in this case very literally reflects the audience, and such a style of theatre offers novel political and social applications.

Audiences here can claim autonomy in a much more direct way, and with deft writing can have their moral and cultural assumptions probed and questioned. This level of interaction between observer and art can also be seen in video games and other interactive narratives, although most attempts to make interactive cinema have been unsuccessful. Surviving 75 is a fascinating attempt to revolutionise and modernise a Brechtian approach to theatre by bringing in some of these digital ideas. The play speaks to the temptations of authoritarianism in times of crisis, and explores the ways in which we as viewers can and do contribute. It's hard to think of a more timely message.

These changes place emphasis on subjectivity, highlighting the individual ways in which we engage with narratives. This is particularly interesting in a world where there seems to be increasing disagreement on the parameters of reality, where political leanings can define how we perceive even the most basic of facts. Narratives that explore this have the ability to dig deeper into our psyche than narratives that have a fixed path, and offer deeper connections to character and theme. And we no doubt have some digging to do.

The 21st century has seen vast innovations in these kinds of interactive narratives, but the foundations for these novel relationships between audience and performer are of the 20th. Brecht, just like the Dead, understood the profound nature of this connection and sought to encourage its symbiotic qualities. More than ever we need art that creates dialogue and challenges perspective, art that reflects our souls, and a sense of autonomy in our own ability to create.