Ahmed Al Majid
The function of theater is not far from the function of poetry.. through suggestion, not report, through what is said and what is not said! The immediate events often lead in the end to the decision…to a definitive and binding solution to a problem…or to imposing the writer’s opinion on the events, or to preaching an idea or a blatant invitation. But when the writer resorts to the indirect event, when he makes most of the events happen far from our sight and hearing, there is only room for him to depict the impact of these events on his characters. From the temporal and fleeting and depicts the eternal, giving us the pulse of daily life, yet it suggests to us more than what we see in front of us.
Silence is considered the most important pillar of dramatic construction, as it plays multiple and highly influential roles on both the dramatic and aesthetic levels. These roles may be equivalent to the roles played by dialogue, and silence may outperform verbal dialogue in some situations in which silence is the only way to convey the state of dramatic crisis that occurs. The theatrical character.
Silence is a unit of time separating between two actions in the formation of theatrical discourse. It constitutes an important part of the structure of the show. It is divided according to the need into long silence, medium silence, and short silence. It occurs in speech and movement during the performance. It is one of the means of delivering theatrical discourse. Silence is often a color. The pun, because it appears to be an apparent silence from speech, while in reality it is implied speech, carrying the meaning of condemnation; It thus constitutes a non-verbal communication force; Especially when it is the only means of communication. It is often a situation of stimulation to understand the other through the language of the eyes, which replaces the tongue in expressing the silence and in a more eloquent manner. And when there is no need for words, silence is an invitation to contemplation and contemplation. Silence may be a form of protection when there is fear of slipping speech. It may be a warning and a cautious anticipation in the face of what he believes is an imminent threat. In this sense, silence becomes a cry in the language of instinct, an expression of the pain of repressed desire. And silence – in all cases – is a state of mind. It is also a case of compulsive choice, especially when it substitutes verbal contact with looks.
Also, silence is a language in itself, and as it is known, the language is not limited to what is written in letters written by a playwright, but rather there are variations and concepts that preceded the written language. And with the dramatic and aesthetic importance of the language of silence in the arts of composition, the arts of acting, and the arts of theatrical performance; However, very few writers and directors were able to organize the language of silence with the language of speech in their formulation of images of theatrical expression in writing or performance, or in weaving the language of silence into the rhythm of the show.
The discourse of silence in the theater provides an opportunity for the spectator to comprehend the hidden psychological dimensions of the characters when they are embodied in their movements and dwellings. Then all the threads come together, and silence in these moments has a solid dramatic value.
And if the tone of the actor’s voice colors the meaning and gives the acting performance the beauty of emotional diversification, with what he thinks is the inability of the language of silence to color the meaning, or the inability to move through the meanings up and down or sharpness and softness by controlling the paths of the vocal tone; We say: silence as an expression of a desire for balance; He has many colors of expressing the meaning in connection with the act, to which silence is a reaction, just as the physical movement gives the meaning the best performance by fidgeting in the movement standing or sitting, or by pointing or gesturing, or by facial expressions with a smile or curtness; Because silence is strength when it is accompanied by a smile or a frown. And silence in all cases screaming in a majestic way. Especially when silence is a state of showing human dignity. Silence is often a momentary state of mystical asceticism; As an internal subjective experience that afflicts the happy and the sad, before silence turns into a state of stillness; Especially when one feels the need to save something in oneself.
Although silence is like stillness; As both of them are subjective experience acquired through long life practice; However, silence is the outward appearance of stillness.
Silence in a theatrical performance urges the audience to speak, as a hypothetical substitute for the meaning of the text deliberately leaving it by putting a gap, which the creative actor must fill on his own with a non-verbal expression if the show director does not notice the existence of gaps that the author deliberately left to mobilize the audience’s cognitive thinking energies. Here arises the possibility of questioning: Who influences the other, the silent or the speaker? The answer is definitely that each of them affects the other, because there is a case of dialectical interaction between speaking and listening. Whether the transmitted expression is verbal or non-verbal, the stillness interacts dialectically with the movement, positively or negatively.
