Immersion of the Individual in the Experience of Theatrical Performances

With the rise of modern technology in the field of film-making, we find an immersive experience in movie theaters engulfs the viewer deeply in the action. This includes high resolution images, 3D technology, giant wide screens, comfortable seating and surround sound. The viewer of such films is captivated by this technology to such an extent that he begins to identify with characters being portrayed and begins to feel and experience things from the viewpoint of that character. For a time, many totally forget themselves and identify with the characters and activity taking place in the film. Modern technology adds a form of sensory overload to the older forms of engagement such as the theatre. This is a modern day update to the type of experiences related by the Mother regarding theatres in Paris during her time in France.

These are simply illustrations of the way that individuals separate from the narrow ego sense and identify with ‘others’ in a larger sense. Ultimately, the attenuation of the ego-sense and the widening identification with all the apparently separate beings in the manifestation, while still maintaining the individuality for its unique purpose and expression, is one of the goals of the yogic process.

The Mother notes: “There are, in Paris, theatres of the third or fourth rank where sensational dramas are performed. These are suburban theatres. They are not for intellectuals but for the masses, and all the elements are always extremely dramatic, moving. Well, those who go there are mostly very simple people and forget completely that they are in a theatre. They identify themselves with the drama. And so, things like this happen: on the stage there is the traitor hiding behind the door, and the hero comes along, not aware naturally that the traitor is hiding there and he is going to be killed. Now, there are people sitting up there (in what is called the gallery), right up in the theatre, who shout, ‘Look out, he is there!’ (Laughter) It has not happened just once, it happens hundreds of times, spontaneously. I had seen a play of this kind called Le Bossu, I believe; anyway it was quite a sensational drama and it was being played at the Theatre de la Porte Saint-Martin. In this play there was a room. On the stage a large room could be seen and at its side a small room and… I don’t remember the story now, but in the small room there was a button which could be pressed, and by pressing the button the ceiling of the bigger room could be brought down on those who were there so as to crush them inexorably!… And a warning had been given, people had already spoken about it, passed on the word. And now there was a traitor who had hidden himself in the little room and he knew the trick of the button, and then there was the hero who came in with other people, and they started arguing; and everyone knew that the ceiling was going to come down…. I didn’t say anything, I remembered I was in the theatre. I was waiting to see how the author was going to get out of this situation to save his hero (for it was evident he couldn’t kill him off like that before everybody!). But the others were not at all in the same state. Well, there were spectators who shouted, really shouted: ‘Look out, mind the ceiling!’ That’s how it was.”

Sri Aurobindo and the Mother, Powers Within, Chapter XIII Power of Identification, pp. 108-109