The sense of make-believe

Recently I received a commission where I was asked to make my own interpretation of performance art. And I had a thought.
I’ve always felt like the view of a performance has the potential of being a bit backwards. You know how people tend to say that acting is easier because it allows us to put on a role; we are not the character we portray so therefore our actions on the stage are not judged. They are absorbed by the audience and enjoyed for what it is; a play.
In a way this is true. But I also believe it to be only half of the truth. Why I really believe acting is easier, is because it allows us to let forth muted feelings and actions under the cover of a “made up persona”. We’re playing a role yes, and the pieces put together might be something different than what we would get by looking at the person playing it. But the actions have to be taken from the inside. From the real us. It is easier because on the stage, we can be ourselves, but under false pretence. On the stage, we can finally remove our mask.

---

My dear, my beautifully pensive and fleeting
In the darkness, where the lights lit up the murky wood -
the floor of a stage. Your stage my dear -
where tip toe feet flutter, where garments tare and flicker,
filling the air with musty sounds. In their absence, deafening.

When you’re watching the show my dear,
are you watching actors in a make-believe play -
Or seeing yourself
in a vivid demonstration of your own inner world.
Lost and muffled, desperately beating. Pulsing. Bleeding.

When in act, my dear, are you putting on your mask,
or taking off the face -
that you’re forced to carry
every step, look and word. Always. Hiding.
Under the stale glares - 
the blood flowing as satin in their eye sockets.

Step onto the stage my dear. There in the dark, under the lights.
Let the dusk roar around your livid feet. Dance.
Step onto the stage and accept the act, as you leave it behind -
there in the crowd. The rustling and eager. Thirsty.
Free yourself, and become what you’ve always dreamed of -
what you’ve always feared.
Leave them all behind in the lie. Unsatisfied.

My dear, my beautifully pensive and fleeting,
Step into the darkness, to embrace what you hid -
from the world, from the crowd.
On that stage, step out of your hiding.
Let your guard down, shed light on that darkness -
show yourself.
No one will know.

It’s all in the act.