Dramatic Foundations - Computers as Theatre - page 51

than words. The enactment is the performance—that which unfolds be-
fore the eyes and ears of the audience.
Effi cient cause: The skills, tools, and techniques of the playwright, ac-
tors, and other artists who contribute to the fi nished play.
End cause: The pleasurable arousal and expression of a particular set of
emotions in the audience ( catharsis ).
As mentioned in Chapter 1, “pleasurable” is a key word in understand-
ing catharsis; emotions aroused by plays are not experienced in the same
way as emotions aroused by “real” events, and even the most negative
emotions can be pleasurable in a dramatic context (the success of such fi lm
genres as suspense and horror depends on this fact). Various cultures, in-
cluding the ancient Greeks, have included ideas like civic discourse to the
end cause. 5 It is safe to say that since emotion depends upon the successful
communication of content, then some level of communication is implicit in
the end cause. We will explore this aspect further in the discussion of cau-
sality and universality in the next chapter.
The Four Causes in Human-Computer Interaction
How can we defi ne these four causes for human-computer interaction? In
this discussion it is diffi cult to avoid using computer-related terminology,
which in many cases is already loaded with connotations that are not al-
ways appropriate. Among these terms are “functionality,” “program,” “ap-
plication,” “representation,” and “agent.”
In computerese, “functionality” refers to the things that a program
does—a spreadsheet can make calculations of certain types, for instance,
and a word processor can do such things as move text around, display dif-
ferent fonts, and check spelling. Interface designers often describe their task
as representing a program's functionality. But this idea brings us to the tree
falling in the forest again. A spreadsheet's ability to crunch numbers in cer-
tain ways is only potential until a person gives it some numbers to crunch
and tells it how to crunch them, in fi ne or gross detail. Thus the defi nition of
functionality needs to be reconceived as what a person can do with a program ,
5. The theatre of Bertolt Brecht is a more modern example. Brecht held that the play was not
fi nished until people acted upon it in their real lives.