top of page

The Fourth Wall


This is one of the most important and interesting fact about the performers during their performances. A lot of you might not notice it, but whenever an artist is performing on a stage in front of the crowd, they usually are surrounded by four walls. There are 3 walls on the left, right and at the back of the artist and then comes the most crucial and invisible fourth wall, the audience. No matter who the performer or what the performance, they need to keep in mind that the audience that they are performing for.


For example, if an anchor goes up on a stage, who is totally unaware of the audience and performs a set totally opposite to the nature of the crowd, there is only one thing the anchor will hear, “BOOO” and the same applies for the comedians and other performers as well.


Now for different artists these walls play different roles. Let’s take the case of an actor or say theatre artists, they are mostly forbidden to break the fourth wall as in they are not allowed to interact with the audience unless the character demands for it. Usually the theatre artists are asked to forget about the audience and to interact amongst themselves as their characters would. In other words, the audience is like a non-living fourth wall, which doesn’t exist, but they have to perform for it.


In case of a singer or a musician the amount of interaction that occurs with the audience or the fourth wall is very important as they are the ones that have to feed the audience with some energy and get an equal response which ultimately leads to a memorable performance. This is the most common thing you will find in the people with good stage presence. However, the other 3 walls should not be left unnoticed as they are also equally important. The artists on the stage need to have the required chemistry among themselves to get a better outcome. No matter what they perform on stage, they need to always remember that they are performing it for the fourth wall, sometimes they want to interact and sometimes they don’t want it at all. But you as an artist always need to keep it in your mind that, “Is Deevar ke sirf kaan hi nahi, aakh aur zuban bhi hai”.

Comments


  • YouTube
  • Instagram
bottom of page