Breaking the rules

Summary

‘Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth.’ It was with a violation of this Commandment that theatre began. Because theatre people, whether they want to or not, must make a precise image of all that is in heaven and earth, if necessary even of the Almighty Himself and also of his Adversary. There's no other way about it. So it's off to hell with us all! Unless a compassionate archangel (I like to think it would be my namesake, Michael) points out that breaking this Commandment has actually produced unfathomable ‘high works’ to the glory of the Almighty and His creation (thus do They speak in heaven, according to Goethe). God cannot create Man after His own image and then proceed to extinguish the divine creative spark by imposing impossible commandments on him. So before the poor people of the theatre are sent to hell – they have a tough enough time on Earth anyway! – the Almighty should visit the opera and convince Himself of the glory of its works. The answer to this putative archangelic argument is still open, right down to the present day.

Since breaking the above Commandment in times immemorial, theatre has broken every other rule too. The contrast of rule (thesis) and breaking the rule (antithesis) always produces something new (synthesis) that unites elements of both. This dialectic always was, and remains, the motor of artistic development. This applies both to the individual artist and to whole genres.

So why the need for rules at all, if they're to be broken and replaced with new ones anyway? Well, just imagine a game (which is what opera is too), but without rules. Think of football. If one could kick the ball anywhere, anyhow, there would be no point to it, no consequences, and it would very soon be boring and stupid. It's only the rules – applied and understood by players and spectators alike – that make the game exciting. How team A competes against team B, within the framework of the rules, but with surprising new combinations and with infringements being punished.