Concept - what lies beneath

Cinema vs live performances
(2D vs 3D/4D, Solitary vs shared experience; Uniform vs unique performance)
Actors are real, the performance is unique (or has the potential to be), the performance is alive/live
Historical theatres have a history (ghosts of the past, remnants of past occupants and events, trace evidence)

Theatre - an act, what is real? How do you know the performance is 'live'.
How do we emphasis the 'living' aspect?:

• sounds
• quality and direction,
• no technological barrier between you and the source (performer)
• background noises from those around you in the audience, creaking seats
• smells
• of the theatre (coffee, wine/beer, food, old wood/leather, deodorisers, stage makeup)
• of the performance (smells associated with musical instruments, smoke, fragrances)
• of the audience (perfume, cigarette smoke,
• touch
• the chair/carpet/armrest/doorknobs
• breezes/drafts created by movement in the performance
• visual
• multidirectional visual stimuli
• no technological barrier between you and the source (performance), no screen/3D glasses etc
• imperfections, 'mistakes', flaws
• interaction with the performance/audience, feedback from the performance

scratch the surface, something real is beneath - there is no veneer 

something covering the surface, a veneer/shroud

Shrouds

• death shrouds/burial shrouds, 
• what lies beneath,  
• a cover, concealment
• the final embodiment of an individual’s life

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shroud

First attempt: Brick with resin - the blurred feeling,
However, the resin could never get quite thick enough as it soaked into the brick