Breaking The Fourth Wall Essay

The concept of the fourth wall, a key component of naturalistic theatre, film, and television, is a vital aspect of the contemporary actor-audience relationship with most pieces of art. Due to this being the norm for both Broadway and Hollywood, whenever someone decides to “break the fourth wall”, you can’t miss it. In my research, I am treating this technique as any time that a character acknowledges the existence of an audience to their plights or references the fact that they are part of an artistic work.
The wall-break technique serves as a way to manipulate the relationship between audience and performer, and it is an incredibly effective way to engage the audience in the going-ons of a piece. It is often used for a witty, metatheatrical purpose, a quick bit of humor that keeps the watcher on their toes. Plays such as The Pirates of Penzance, Our Town, Avenue Q, The Glass Menagerie, Hair, and A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum all in some capacity take advantage of the people sitting in their seats around them, and the reactions they are bound to get.
Characters will turn to the camera and utter a few lines of commentary on their stories, or even just say a quick send-off. Sometimes they will even go as far as Rick from the aforementioned cartoon, saying “That was season one! Thanks for watching!” during their