How to analyse the experience of serious leisure onstage: actors and spectators

Abstract

The practice of serious leisure engenders a deep sense of self-fulfilment, observable in artistic activities in general - and in theatre in particular. In relation to theatre, the serious leisure perspective suggests that this activity has an influence on the self, whether the individual is playing the role of actor or active spectator, but few studies have analysed the impact. Given the scarcity of empirical evidence and methodological references, in this paper we propose a qualitative methodological procedure to analyse the relations between theatre as serious leisure and the self. This procedure, besides showing the influence of theatre as serious leisure on actors and spectators, permits the assessment of intervention programmes.