Experiencing a Place

How you experience a place depends on where you are sitting / Christine Emmons. June 5, 2019

     In December 2010, I went to the Long Wharf Theater to see Athol Fugard’s play The Train Driver. During the talk-back session, several people mentioned that the very bright light at the back of the stage during the beginning of the play was blinding and made them very uncomfortable. Some members of the audience noted that they had to put their hands in front of their faces to block the blinding light and one woman demanded that they change it for the rest of the performances.

​      Because I was sitting in one of the side blocks towards the back, the light was not affecting me in the same way. I was quite comfortable. However, I was in the row where if I leaned forward, I experienced the blinding light. I know that, because I leaned forward briefly to better view the part of the stage that was out of my view. I quickly sat back when I felt the discomfort, and briefly thought how difficult it must be for the people in the seats in full view of the entire stage; but promptly forgot. 

​      During the “talk back” session, I mentioned that how an audience member experienced the play depended on where she or he was sitting. It is the same in life. How an individual experiences the world depends on where that person is sitting physically, psychologically, socially, economically and culturally.