Theater
The Theater from The Hidden Side of Things by C W Leadbeater
The hidden side of a performance at the theatre depends entirely
upon the nature of the performance.
Thought detail 2 by Allison L. Williams Hill
Acting and the Actor
The passions portrayed by the actors,
not being in any sense real, produce practically no effect on higher matter,
but unfortunately there seems to be not infrequently a great deal of conceit
connected with acting, and a great deal of jealousy of other actors. So far
as these exist they represent undesirable influences. The principal
effect to be seen at a theatre is the result of the feelings excited
in the audience, and these again depend upon the character of the play.
There seems almost always to be an undercurrent of sensuality
directed towards the principal actresses, but the people who
make-up the majority of the audience usually follow the plot
of the play and feel a mild amount of hatred for the villain
and a sort of gentle pleasure when the hero succeeds in over-throwing
his machinations. There are some ingenuous people who really
throw themselves heart and soul into the play-- to whom it is
for the time exactly like real life.
Soul Portrait by Allison L. Williams Hill
Quality of Thought Forms
These send out strong emotions
of various kinds as the play progresses, but usually their number
is not sufficient to count for much in the general aura of the theatre.
There are unfortunately many modern plays which are in themselves of
a highly objectionable nature, and the thought-forms of those
who patronise them are naturally unpleasant in character.
One may sum up the matter by saying that to many people a
visit to the theatre is like the reading of a novel, but it
presents the different characters to them in a manner which
makes them more real to them. There are others, on the
other hand (perhaps more imaginative people), who when they
read a story make for themselves thought-forms of all the characters,
and these forms seem to them far more vivid and suitable than any
representation in the theatre can be. Such people are always
disappointed when they go to see a dramatised representation
of one of their favourite stories.
My Mother by Allison L. Williams-Hill
Theater and Imagination
Others who have not the power of imagination to clothe the
characters with definite forms for themselves are very glad
to have this done for them by the dramatist' s art. For these--
and they are the majority of theatre-goers-- a visit to the
theatre is no more harmful than the reading of a novel,
except for the necessary unpleasant surroundings-- the tinge
of sensuality in the audience, and of conceit and jealousy in
the actors, to which I have previously referred, and the
spending of a couple of hours in a vitiated atmosphere and
in the midst of a more or less excited crowd. From the occult
point of view these latter considerations usually rather
outweigh the advantage of any possible enjoyment that
may be obtained from the performance.
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