See a show on a Friday night and then again on a Sunday matinee. Every audience member brings to a performance his or her own individual memories and experiences. Each of us has a personal catalog of childhood memories, emotional scars, and private fantasies. Anything we see on-stage which reminds us of this persona world will have a strong impact on us. All art, including theatre, is related to the society in which it is produced.
Art can change society.
Often art recognizes what is already present in society but has not yet surfaced. In time though came to be recognized as movement whose disjointed and fragmentary lines reflect the quality of much of modern life. In observed theatre the audience participates vicariously or empathatically with what is happening on-stage. Aesthetic Distance is critically important in getting the audience to feel empathy for the characters. Empathy is the experience of mentally entering into the feeling or spirit of another person.