Limited Perspective

This post, above, has me revisiting the concept of the “suspension of disbelief” that we talk about in the theater world. To be up front, I hardly ever stop thinking about how flawed and inadequate “suspension of disbelief” is as an idea. Supposedly, it goes like this: when I am out in the street, in front of the theater, I am disposed to believe everything I see and to take it at face value. Then, as I move through the lobby, show my ticket, take my program and make my way to my seat – somewhere in that transition, I am supposed to have reset my default to disbelief. Then the challenge for the theatrical production is to have me set that disbelief aside, and toggle back to belief. This idea acknowledges something but seems to miss the mark. Surely, the first part is right. I wouldn’t last long in the world if I didn’t generally, and pretty automatically, believe that the things around me were really happening. I could hardly cross the street to catch the E Line bus downtown to the the...