Why Perform?

Escapism, narcissism, to change the world, to entertain, to help others, to tell a story, to be someone other than oneself, to work with like-minded people, to make sense of the world, to deconstruct the world, to alter reality, to escape reality, the act of performance itself...

What do I think? How can you tell. I know that for me it is more than likely a mix of all of these things. Escapism, definitely, no matter how bad the world looks for the duration of a performance the world beyond the theatre doors does not exist... sometimes the theatre doesn't even exist. I think the thing that interests me most is the notion of narcissism - the ego. Anyone who tells me that this plays no part in their wanting to perform is, for me, a liar. The simple fact is that performance, by it's nature, requires an individual to stand before an audience and to do something, be it perform an action or deliver lines, they made the active choice to become an actor and thus want people to watch them.