Presentational Theatre is a genre of theatre that confronts the audience by

acknowledging them through language, movements and signs that shows that the
actors are aware of the audience’s presence. This is effective because the audience
can feel like they are part of the experience not just sideline spectators. Some people
say that presentational theatre breaks the ‘4th wall’. In presentational theatre the
audience are part of creating reality that actors normally have to portray in
representational theatre. The settings in presentational theatre are usually minimal,
actors usually play multiple roles and shift from role to role indiscreetly. This means that
the audience have more of a challenge to follow the developing story line, it means that
the audience concentrate more and actually take in the information because the
‘confrontational’ and ‘acknowledging’ style of presentational theatre forces the audience
to be active instead of sitting there simply watching and not understanding or taking in
anything.
The fourth wall is a conceptual barrier between those presenting some kind of a
communication and those receiving it.
The term originated in the theater, where it refers to the imaginary wall at the
front of the stage separating the audience from the performers. The fourth wall, along
with the sides and back of the standard stage, encloses the created world of the play.
Breaking the fourth wall means doing or saying something that either explicitly or
implicitly acknowledges the artificiality of the environment and the fact that both the
presenters and audience are aware of that artificiality. In the theatre, for example, an
actor might break the fourth wall physically by walking down from the stage, through the
audience and out the door instead of exiting stage left or right. Conceptually, an actor
might break the fourth wall by making a reference to the fact that he is a performer in a
play, by addressing the audience directly, or by responding to something that happens
in the audience, such as a crying baby or a ringing cell phone.

Presentational elements can include the use of a narrator, actor asides to the
audience, surreal characters or set design pieces, and any excessive theatricality
involving special effects.
Theatre productions can be broadly divided into 2 categories depending on the
theatre artists' purposes as they relate to an audience's perspective on reality. In
representational theatre the artists strive to create a visual and performance reality
on stage that tricks the audience into accepting the idea that what they are seeing is
real. For the amount of time that you are are in the theatre watching the play you accept
that what you are seeing is real and is happening in front of you. The audience
becomes a passive viewer of the experience that is happening to the characters in the
drama. From time to time the audience may respond to what is happening (laughter,
applause), but, for the most part, the audience is there to watch and, hopefully, be
entertained, educated, enlightened, or moved by the performance.
 The artists in presentational theatre try to challenge the natural passivity of
the audience by creating a moment to moment reality, forcing the viewers to actively
participate in the creation of the reality. For example, in representational theatre there
are normally realistic settings on stage with actors assigned only one role throughout
the production. In presentational theatre the settings may not be realistic, at all, and
actors may be assigned a number of roles, often shifting from role to role with only the
most minimal of physical changes. The audience is challenged to keep up with what is
developing on stage as the story is told. The Laramie Project, by Moises Kaufman, is an
example of presentational theatre. In this play a company of 8 actors play over 100
roles, often playing 2 roles in the same scene. The actors shift roles by changing vocal
characteristics, costumes, or props. For example, an actor may begin the scene as a
member of the Tectonic Theatre Project, but then as the narrative developes, shift into a
different character, one of the townspeople of Laramie. The change is done in full view
of the audience; the actor slowly switches from an accentless voice to a "western"
accent, he puts on a hat or a badge to signify the character's status in the town, he
alters the way he moves about the stage to suggest changes in age. In presentational
theatre these changes are done throughout a play to challenge the audience to
remember that they are active participants in the production of a play. As "viewers" of
the play they must use their imagination to assist the actors in creating the full scene.
So, a doorway represents a house, a chair represents a living room.
In presentational theatre, epic stories can be told with a minimum number of
actors and a few costumes and props. In the LaGuardia production of The Laramie
Project the residents of Laramie and the members of the Tectonic Theatre Project will
be portrayed by a company of only 8 actors. Each actor plays a minimum of 6 roles,
often switching ages and genders within a scene. The audience will see only a bare
stage, a section of fence, and a projection screen. Actors will use only what they can
carry to alter the location, time, and players in a scene. Visual projections will be used to
develop mood, act as narrator, and to suggest locale. The audience will use this basic
structure to follow the actors as they tell the story of The Laramie Project.

Oedipus the King (429-420 BCE), also known as Oedipus Rex or Oedipus
Tyrannos ('Tyrannos' signifies that the throne was not gained through an inheritance) is
the most famous surviving play written by the 5th-century BCE poet and
dramatist Sophocles. The play is part of a trilogy along with Antigone and Oedipus at
Colonus.

The plot - an old myth already known to most of the audience - was simple: a prophecy
claiming he would kill his father and lie with his mother forces Oedipus - whose name
means 'swollen foot' after his ankles were pierced as a child - to leave his home
of Corinth and unknowingly travel to Thebes (his actual birthplace). En route he fulfills
the first part of the prophecy when he kills a man, the king of Thebes and his true
father. Upon arriving in Thebes, he saves the troubled city by solving the riddle of
the Sphinx, then he marries the widowed queen (his mother) and becomes the new
king. Later, when a plague has befallen the city, Oedipus is told that to rid the city of
the plague he must find the murderer of the slain king. Unknowingly, ignorant of the
fact that he was the culprit, he promises to solve the murder. When he finally learns the
truth, he realizes he has fulfilled the prophecy; he blinds himself and goes into exile.

The Hairy Ape, drama in eight scenes by Eugene O’Neill, produced in 1922 and
published the following year. It is considered one of the prime achievements
of Expressionism on stage.
Yank Smith, a brutish stoker on a transatlantic liner, bullies and despises everyone
around him, considering himself superior. He is devastated when a millionaire’s
daughter is repulsed by his simian ways, and he vows to get even with her. Ashore in
New York, Yank schemes to destroy the factory owned by the woman’s father, but his
plans fail. Yank wanders into a zoo. There, feeling alienated from humanity, he releases
an ape (for whom he feels some kinship), and the ape kills him.