A néző szerepe

The Role of the Audience
Harsányi Zsolt's book deals with the aesthetic analysis of theatrical reception, the spectator, and the audience. His perspective is already noteworthy, as it draws on both his personal experiences as an actor and director, as well as contemporary theatre theory. His well-grounded thematic approach, both conceptually and experientially, is explored in four chapters. In the first chapter, he traces the historical changes in the position and role of the spectator, focusing on key moments in the over 2,500-year history of theatrical art. In the second chapter, he examines the mechanisms that regulate the reception process. According to his view, a theatrical performance must always enable the spectator to become the constitutive, meaning-making subject of the aesthetic experience. He delves deeply into the analysis of illusion, identification, performance reading, and interpretation, as well as the processes that regulate the structuring of the spectator's attention, the psychology of creation and reception, and the logic of taste and memory. In the third chapter, he innovatively integrates sociological studies of the audience and spectators into the field of theatre research. In the fourth chapter, he analyzes themes of identity, transformation, and boundary crossing in the context of contemporary innovative trends that place the spectator at the centre of the events. I hope Harsányi Zsolt's groundbreaking book will be effectively incorporated into the field of theatre research and education.

Professor PhD Béres András