Breaking down the fourth wall

The invisible fourth wall between audiences and performers is made to be broken and theatre makers are doing just that. Not only are they interacting with the audience, they're inviting them inside the piece.
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The “fourth wall” – a term popularised by philosopher and critic Denis Diderot to describe the imaginary barrier between audience and stage – is often broken by performers, usually by directly acknowledging the presence of the audience. This technique consciously addresses the fictional device and penetrates the boundaries drawn by traditional theatre. But what happens when the audience isn’t just acknowledged, but invited inside the work?

While breaking the fourth wall isn’t new, some recent Australian works in both theatre and visual arts have been shattering conventional narratives and asking audiences to physically enter the space where the work is taking place.

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Sarah Adams
About the Author
Sarah Adams is a media, film and television junkie. She is the former deputy editor of ArtsHub Australia and now works in digital communications - telling research stories across multiple platforms - in the higher education sector. Follow her @sezadams