fourth wall

fourth wall
a) The imaginary invisible wall at the front of the stage in a proscenium theatre, through which the audience sees the action in the world of the play.

This is a flat, unnecessary, and strangely disturbing denial of the fourth-wall convention, that unwritten agreement between playwright and playgoer whereby you think of yourself at the theatre as a privileged, exonerated, comfortably seated eavesdropper.

b) The boundary between the fiction and the audience.

Theres been a convention in the theater world to think of the division between audience and spectacle as a fourth wall, a wall that the playwright tries to eliminate through the force of his drama.


Wikipedia foundation.

Игры ⚽ Поможем решить контрольную работу

Look at other dictionaries:

  • Fourth wall — The fourth wall is the imaginary wall at the front of the stage in a proscenium theater, through which the audience sees the action in the world of the play. It was made explicit by Denis Diderot [ The Fourth Wall and the Third Space by John… …   Wikipedia

  • fourth wall — noun : an imaginary wall (as the opening of the proscenium in a theater) that keeps performers from recognizing or directly addressing their audience * * * Theat. the imaginary wall of a box set, separating the actors from the audience. [1800 10] …   Useful english dictionary

  • fourth wall — /fɔθ ˈwɔl/ (say fawth wawl) Film, Theatre, etc. –noun 1. the convention that a separation be maintained between an audience and the action in a play, film, etc., and that there be no interaction between them. –phrase 2. break the fourth wall, to… …  

  • fourth wall —   refers to the imaginary, illusory invisible plane through which the film viewer or audience is thought to look through toward the action; the fourth wall that separates the audience from the characters is broken through when the barrier between …   Glossary of cinematic terms

  • fourth wall — noun Date: 1807 an imaginary wall (as at the opening of a modern stage proscenium) that keeps performers from recognizing or directly addressing their audience …   New Collegiate Dictionary

  • fourth wall — Theat. the imaginary wall of a box set, separating the actors from the audience. [1800 10] * * * …   Universalium

  • breaking the fourth wall — pp. When a fictional character shows awareness of both the medium in which they exist and the audience watching (or reading) that medium. n. Example Citation: The voice overs, by Grant and Hoult, are a change from High Fidelity, in which Cusack… …   New words

  • The Fourth Wall — is a 1992 play by the American playwright A.R. Gurney. [Banham (1998, 460).] It was originally produced in the United States in regional theatre. During the course of the play, a quartet of characters deal with housewife Peggy s obsession with a… …   Wikipedia

  • Wall Ball — Wall Ball, also called Ball Wall, Butts Up, Suicide, Patball, Off the Wall, Thumb, Red Butt, Ball to the Wall(Some Difference Edis), One Touch or Wallsies is a type of ball game involving a group which involves the bouncing of a ball against a… …   Wikipedia

  • Fourth Avenue / Ninth Street (New York City Subway) — Fourth Avenue / Ninth Street …   Wikipedia

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”