Ritual is most similar to theatre. It is an isolated bauble world, a place set apart from the general environment. It controls the user's experience, and focuses them on that which is "important" in their environment. Unlike the theatre, the ritual is generally participatory, symbolic and mysterious. The user performs prescribed actions, normally in concert with others to create a sense of order. Hidden within the movements of the actors, the signs and symbols of the environment, are the meanings and ideas that the user may find. To understand, the user must belong to the group. To participate, they need only move, belong and suspend their disbelief. Procession and pacing within the ritual is associated with the temporal patterns developed by the creator. In some cultures a slow, plodding pace signals a ritual, in others, a complex beat twice as fast as the dancers' feet can move. User associations with ritual vary widely from culture to culture, and often need to be taken into account when playing with ritualistic and processional spaces. |
Document Name: tc.play.ritual.htm
Copyright (c) 1997 -- Mike Fletcher
Reproduction for other than personal use prohibited without express written permission from the author.