Breaking the Fourth Wall: Tips for Audience Interaction
While the majority of Western theater and film honors the fourth wall, the separation between audience and characters, there are many notable exceptions. Audience interaction —whether live or on camera— doesn’t come naturally to everyone. Once honed, this skill can be handy to have in your back pocket.
Here are some thoughts to get you started as you’re trying to build an audience connection.
On-Camera Tips for Breaking the Fourth Wall
On camera, there is no audience to interact with, so you must create one for yourself. If you don’t know who you’re talking to, that flatness and lack of specificity will read in your eyes. Be sure to personalize it.
If you’re not given someone specific to talk to in the text, invent one that makes sense. If you’re speaking to “the audience,” figure out who they are to you. What do they mean to you? Why are you sharing this particular moment with them? What do you want to gain by sharing it? Be thorough and specific in your answers. Like any other action in the scene, it deserves the same care of motivation.
Breaking the Fourth Wall Advice for Live Theater
In live theater, there are many different types of audience interaction. The first thing to do is determine the conventions under which you are operating. In Shakespeare, for example, characters often break into soliloquies, where characters work out their innermost thoughts out loud and alone on stage. The audience is often directly engaged in these cases serving as witnesses, judge and jury, confidants, peer reviewers or a host of other roles in the character’s mind.
These are often moments in the character’s life when a weighty decision must be made, a tricky problem worked out or a moment of heightened emotion is either celebrated or despaired. Invite the audience in.
Again, the key is figuring out why you are sharing and what you need from them. What is the ask? Are you seeking their validation? Forgiveness? Insight? Directly sharing your character’s inner life with your audience can be a wonderful, intimate gift. Don’t shy away from it.
Direct address can be a wonderful storytelling tool in classic and modern plays, but it can feel awkward at first. If you’re struggling with where to start, it can be helpful to choose specific beats or lines you know you want to share directly. Find a person in the audience to speak those too. From there just play the objective.
Breaking the Fourth Wall with Crowd Work
Sometimes the structure of audience interaction is a bit looser. If you are an emcee or host you may have to engage in crowd work or audience participation. For these roles, the first impression you make on your audience is very important. It’s crucial to establish trust early on or your audience will be reluctant to play along.
Crowd work is a bit like substitute teaching. You can’t let the class walk all over you, but you also can’t bully them into respecting you. Come in with confident, grounded energy. Use whatever text you have to establish your competence and take command of the show while empowering them to buy into the experience with you.
If you know you’ll have to get an audience participant later, try to scope out the crowd a bit ahead of time for someone who is accessible and willing. A good rule of thumb is to avoid the loud person who is too eager as well as the person who completely shies away from it. These roles often utilize at least a bit of improvisation.
Remember to empower rather than demand, keep the pace tight, and bring your brand of personal charm. People will respond to you more if you’re genuine.
Breaking the fourth wall can be as exhilarating, joyful and poignant as it can be humbling and frustrating. Remember that you are serving the story. Trust the text and yourself. The rest will follow.
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