Violence on Stage

Violence on Stage

I was watching "The Imitation Game" the other day, which I highly recommend, and there was an interesting quote about violence. It was, "Do you know why people like violence? It is because it feels good." ...and of course it goes on, but this is the part that intrigued me, and that I want to talk about.

I've had a lot of thoughts about violence on stage and in media, but particularly (and for this post) commedia. And I like it. I know there is a lot of controversy about violence in media, and entertainment, etc. and I think there are good arguments on all sides, and I also think that different instances are different (der). For the purpose of this post, I am going to make clear that I am speaking of unrealistic violence, such as in Looney Tunes (for a classic example) and, of course, commedia.

Sorry if this is a little ADD, but that is my brain, so... you're welcome.

For those of you who don't know, I am a super-nerd. One of my nerd loves is anime and manga. So I've been watching my favourite series, and I've noticed that these cartoons have a lot of violence. I mean, a lot of violence. Not just the big battles, where obviously people are fighting, but the everyday interactions are just riddles with punches and kicks and quite the variety of bodily harms. And I love every second of it.

As I watch this, I just keep thinking: this is what we need in our shows.

Granted, I think in general in commedia we should be acting more like they do in anime. The thing about anime and other cartoons is that everything is enhanced, more extreme. Their actions and reactions are bigger than real life, and this also extends to physical reactions (usually violence). And something about it is so satisfying. It feels good. For a while I worried if I was a violent person, and because of that, if I was a little bit of a bad person. But, long-introspective-story-short: no. I'm not a violent person, I'm a physical person. I am human. I have a physical body, full of chemicals and emotions and all those other things that come along with being born into this world. It doesn't mean I go about punching everyone in the face for yelling my name and running at me down a hallway. But it does mean I can relate to violence, even crave it at times, and definitely enjoy watching it in cartoons and on stage, and that's ok.

I had an amazing voice teacher once tell me that people can go to the opera, and by the end of the show, their own vocal chords would be a little bit tired. This is because the body instinctively connects with the singer on stage, and the observer's own body and vocal chords are relating to what they are experiencing. They are connected to the performer. This blew my mind. It also changed my whole thinking about why commedia can be so powerful. Because commedia is not about words or plot or subtext. It's all physical. Everything is physicalized. And this gives us the opportunity to connect not with just our audience's minds, but their whole physical being.

Something happens when you are watching something that has been made heightened in a physical way. Your body connects to it, whether it is conscious or not. It's sort of an amazing backwards way of communication, where we make the audience feel something first, and then analyze it in their brains later. When we watch Wile E. Coyote running around getting smashed by an anvil, we feel the conflict before we even put any words to what is going on. Plus, I might add, as a child watching these things, I knew that if a piano fell on me, I would not be ok. This is not violence that is meant to be realistic, it is a physical representation of something else that is going on internally. Now, I know I was a smart kid, but I never would have said that was what I was experiencing. But I was not relating to the pain in these interactions, I was relating to the physical action and release of the those performing the actions. I couldn't have expressed this as a kid (and can't very well as an adult), because it isn't something expressed in words. You feel it. And that is precisely what I want for my audience. An experience that is more than just words, something that resonates with them in a way that leaves their brains trying to catch up.