The Audience the (YOU) The Observer

A careful analysis of the process of observation in atomic physics has shown that the subatomic particles have no meaning as isolated entities, but can only be understood as interconnections between the preparation of an experiment and the subsequent measurement. Quantum theory thus reveals a basic oneness of the universe. It shows that we cannot decompose the world into independently existing smallest units. As we penetrate into matter, nature does not show us any isolated ‘basic building blocks’, but rather appears as a complicated web of relations between the various parts of the whole. These relations always include the observer in an essential way. 

The human observer constitutes the final link in the chain of observational processes, and the properties of any atomic object can only be understood in terms of the object’s interaction with the observer.

Similarly; it is important to understand that the theatrical and artistic depiction in theatre is a circular process and a series of interconnections and relies heavily on the observer as audience as well as observer within the performing ‘Self’. The human observer is one of the important links in theatre.

Krishnan, Sarasa (2015) Beyond the architecture of sensing: An investigation of the role and function of the observer in a staged performance, with particular reference to the Indian aesthetic theory of Rasa, and its effect on what we mean by conciousness. PhD thesis, Murdoch University.