Why do we prefer performances without concentration face?
It’s okay to be able to tell a performer is working hard, but it has long been clear to me that audiences prefer performances that look effortless.
Part, I think, is relatively recent: just as presidential candidates had to be “good on TV” starting with the JFK/NIxon debates of 1960, we have come to prefer performers and performances that look relaxed and natural.
Part, I think, is long-standing. We have a deeply human desire to celebrate innate talents – prodigies, “geniuses”, etc. A performer who is visibly working hard to deliver a performance gets in the way of thinking that they are gifted.
Part, I think, is that we empathize with performers and start to mirror their emotions. That’s part of the magic of live performance; but when a performer looks like they’re stressed or working really hard, the audience’s empathy can become a liability.
Regardless, it’s important to talk about, model, and train young performers to simultaneously work very hard and not look like they’re working hard.