Reality and Fantasy

The lines between reality and fantasy are blurred by certain aspects of A Life in the Theatre. For Robert, life is the theater. He plays the role of a professional actor both onstage and off, insisting on indoctrinating John with his accumulated knowledge. Throughout A Life in the Theatre, Robert does not draw many definite boundaries between the fantasy world of the theater and the reality of life offstage. Though he tells John in scene 6 that an actor must have a life outside the theater, in scene 5, Robert goes on about how ugly sounds, like voices and accents, bother him on and offstage. The reality of being human breaks into Robert's fantasy life as an actor, however, when he begins to forget his lines onstage. Adding to this reality is John's regular rejection of Robert and his values in the second half of the play. Still...