been dissident voices.^36 But the question of what the illusion is and the
related question of whether the audience is in some sense deceived by the
illusion have proved highly contentious. Thus the focus of our discussion
will be twofold: (1) What kind(s) of illusion do wefind in theatre? (2) Does
this kind of illusion require that audiences are deceived in some way? We will
look at both of these questions in relation to different kinds of illusion.
Before doing so, however, a word about their connection.
One reason why some might object to the very idea that theatre
requires illusion is the thought, expressed by Dr Johnson amongst others,
that theatre audiences are not deceived by what they see.^37 If illusion
implies the state of being deceived by something and theatre audiences
are not deceived, then they can be under no illusion. Some critics have
suggested that the term‘illusion’, when applied to the theatre (or to other
kinds of art) is nothing more than a useful misnomer: thus, for Sparshott,
it is‘a shockingly bad description’but‘an uncommonly useful label’and
hence what is called ‘illusion’ is ‘no more an illusion than German
measles is measles or Vienna steak steak’.^38 If Sparshott’s remarks may be
taken to apply to‘illusion’at the theatre, then we might hope for recon-
ciliation: no, theatre audiences are notreallyunder any illusions, because
they are not really deceived; but they do experience something analogous
to an illusion, something for which‘illusion’is an adequate metaphor.
Unfortunately, however, things are not that simple. To agree on this
account of theatrical illusion, we would have to agree on two claims:first,
that theatre audiences are not deceived; second, that illusion implies
deception. Neither is uncontroversial. As to thefirst, we have already
noted Gorgias’ remark that theatre audiences are deceived. Stendhal
claims that a spectator may achieve (very brief) moments of‘perfect illu-
sion’, in which she believes that what is merely imitated on stage is really
taking place; for him, then, the audience certainly is deceived (albeit
momentarily) and, what’s more, plays achieve their best effects just when
spectators are subject to perfect illusion.^39 As to the second, although
illusion can deceive, there are clear cases in which it does not. Driving
down a familiar stretch of road on a hot day, I see a mirage for the tenth
time; I am not deceived in the slightest, but for all that the mirage is still
an illusion. So being the victim of the mirage illusion does not entail
having the false belief that there’s water on the road. So we can’t agree,
without further discussion, that theatre audiences aren’t under illusions
because they aren’t deceived: for one thing, some people think audiences
are deceived; for another, victims of illusions don’t always entertain false
beliefs about what they are seeing. Discussion of theatre and illusion
requires a more detailed analysis of the kinds of illusion that may be
present at the theatre, as well as the relation between each type of illusion
and deception on the part of the audience.
56 From the World to the Stage