I'm actually getting really tired of people feeling that some sense of their entitlement is being breached because Ben Whishaw isn't coming to the stage door after the performances of Mojo; the play he is currently performing in London which also stars Rupert Grint among others; each evening.
When actors do red carpets at movie premieres or at the Oscars and similar award shows that is expected because it is part of the deal. These events are PR opportunities to promote the product aka the movie/TV show. Publicity for the movie or TV show being promoted are normally part of an actor's contract. So they have to do it regardless of whether they want to or not.
For me theatre is different. You go because you want to experience a performance and watch a play that may transport you to another place and time for a few hours. Get you thinking in a new way about an issue and challenge your beliefs; and most importantly of all to provide entertainment and enjoyment. I know that film and television can do the same thing but theatre is different because it is a live experience happening in real time.
It is also a live experience for the performers who are actually working while we are watching. Being on stage delivering live theatre can be physically and emotionally tiring (and from what I have read of the first performances and having read the play twice it seems that Ben Whishaw's character is on a rollercoaster of emotion). That in itself could be exhausting night after night.
Fair enough other cast members are signing and chatting with fans outside afterwards and it is their choice to do that. My point is do people actually want to see a play and the acting talent of the cast or just wait outside afterwards to see them more like movie stars at Hollywood premieres.
When did it stop being about the play and the acting and become all about the "celebrity" side?
I have always thought Ben Whishaw is not comfortable with the "star" image like some of his peers. So why can't people just accept that. He is an actor doing a job of performing on stage and entertaining people. From what I have read he is doing his job amazingly well as ever. So where is the issue?
Also, since his last West End performance (in Peter & Alice, with Judi Dench) his private life may have become a little too public for his tastes (not going in to that here) and maybe he is wary of being exposed in some way. Would we like it if our personal life was on show? Probably not.
For him, I hope that isn't why he's not engaging with the crowd after the performances. He could simply be trying to shed himself of the character before he steps back into his own life. All this is merely speculative and we will never know unless he chooses to reveal all (which I very much doubt!!).
Just give him a break. Enjoy his performances but don't feel you have any right to own any part of him or his personal time. Remember the ticket price does not include an audience with the cast after the show; unless there is a Q&A session.
This is a recent example of an issue I have been pondering for quite awhile and I plan on exploring it from different angles.
How much can we, the public, expect from people in the public eye? Are such people expected to give more of themselves to the public than was previously the case. How much of their time and their private life have we a right to encroach on.
The public/private boundaries that existed before have changed with the invention of "Reality TV" and the E! channel "celebrities" who are the stars of these programmes. I have a lot to say on this issue so I will be returning to it again and as always I would love to hear what you think......
No comments:
Post a Comment