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Some-one says Street Performing Is Annoying
Dawn Pendergast
6/20/02
Introduction to Performance Studies
Street Performance
“Street performance is annoying,” my room mate argued, “They perform whether you like it or not. Then you’re guilted into giving them money.” I could see the analogy he was making between street performance and people that rush up to your windshield and, without asking, scrub it expecting compensation. A large part of street performance revolves around revenue. Sally Harrison-Pepper describes how performers size up spaces, draw in crowds, use the flow through a park to their advantage, and cater to specific audiences. Shows span from ten minutes to one hour, depending on the crowd and how much money the performer will collect. But doesn’t every ‘real’ theater also have economic concerns? Why does street performance offend my roommate, while he’ll shove out fifty bucks(!) for the Blue Note?
The strategies of street and theatrical performances differ in two general ways. First, an audience does not actively seek out street performance. In theatrical productions, the audience must check showings, buy tickets, and appear at the theater at a specific time and place. However, street performers ‘trap’ audience members. Secondly, the audience invests money before a theatrical performance. On the street, compensation comes afterward, and more importantly, no specific amount is charged. It’s up to the audience to appraise the performance.
Both of these differences help to explain my roommate’s discomfort. Street performance reverses the power structures implicit in theatrical viewing. The performer actively seeks out the spectator, he watches the audience in the same way that the audience watches him. This upsets the traditional gaze that assigns power to the active looker, while the performer is a passive object. The second difference is more complex. In a traditional theater, tickets are quietly taken before the show, without a fuss, and never reimbursed. The dirty little process of commodification is taken out of the way, so that ‘real art’ can be experienced. You’re never asked to put a price on performance, except, that is, when the street performer’s hat is passed. Street performances thrust commodification to the forefront, making art and compensation for that art visible. They put audiences in a position to judge a performance and the person performing.
Street performers also recognize the ways that an audience judges the performer as much as the performance, by capitalizing on the myth of ‘starving artist.’ This practice brings to the forefront another interesting difference between theatrical and street performance. While theatrical performance attempts to maintain a façade of economic wealth (even when most actors and directors are barely getting by) in order to increase revenue, street performers harness poverty to a means to the same ends. This ‘staving artist’ facade may also contribute to my roommate’s guilt. However, one of the most refreshing characteristics of street performance is its accentuation of those hidden, uncouth economic concerns. Western culture seems to misunderstand art as a commodity-free field. Traditional theatrical establishments perpetuate this myth by maintaining the appearances of economic affluence, affluence that seems to come from thin air (or wealthy patrons). This practice threatens art and theater as institutions by distancing economic value from the value of art. Street performance teaches general audiences that art has an economic value, and if we want to enjoy it, we better pay up
6/20/02
Introduction to Performance Studies
Street Performance
“Street performance is annoying,” my room mate argued, “They perform whether you like it or not. Then you’re guilted into giving them money.” I could see the analogy he was making between street performance and people that rush up to your windshield and, without asking, scrub it expecting compensation. A large part of street performance revolves around revenue. Sally Harrison-Pepper describes how performers size up spaces, draw in crowds, use the flow through a park to their advantage, and cater to specific audiences. Shows span from ten minutes to one hour, depending on the crowd and how much money the performer will collect. But doesn’t every ‘real’ theater also have economic concerns? Why does street performance offend my roommate, while he’ll shove out fifty bucks(!) for the Blue Note?
The strategies of street and theatrical performances differ in two general ways. First, an audience does not actively seek out street performance. In theatrical productions, the audience must check showings, buy tickets, and appear at the theater at a specific time and place. However, street performers ‘trap’ audience members. Secondly, the audience invests money before a theatrical performance. On the street, compensation comes afterward, and more importantly, no specific amount is charged. It’s up to the audience to appraise the performance.
Both of these differences help to explain my roommate’s discomfort. Street performance reverses the power structures implicit in theatrical viewing. The performer actively seeks out the spectator, he watches the audience in the same way that the audience watches him. This upsets the traditional gaze that assigns power to the active looker, while the performer is a passive object. The second difference is more complex. In a traditional theater, tickets are quietly taken before the show, without a fuss, and never reimbursed. The dirty little process of commodification is taken out of the way, so that ‘real art’ can be experienced. You’re never asked to put a price on performance, except, that is, when the street performer’s hat is passed. Street performances thrust commodification to the forefront, making art and compensation for that art visible. They put audiences in a position to judge a performance and the person performing.
Street performers also recognize the ways that an audience judges the performer as much as the performance, by capitalizing on the myth of ‘starving artist.’ This practice brings to the forefront another interesting difference between theatrical and street performance. While theatrical performance attempts to maintain a façade of economic wealth (even when most actors and directors are barely getting by) in order to increase revenue, street performers harness poverty to a means to the same ends. This ‘staving artist’ facade may also contribute to my roommate’s guilt. However, one of the most refreshing characteristics of street performance is its accentuation of those hidden, uncouth economic concerns. Western culture seems to misunderstand art as a commodity-free field. Traditional theatrical establishments perpetuate this myth by maintaining the appearances of economic affluence, affluence that seems to come from thin air (or wealthy patrons). This practice threatens art and theater as institutions by distancing economic value from the value of art. Street performance teaches general audiences that art has an economic value, and if we want to enjoy it, we better pay up
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