smoking

Okay, so as a smoker, I'm really not all that sensitive to smoke and I don't have a problem with it personally. However, as a theatre practitioner, I'm always aware that without the audience, we've got no reason to perform. That being the case, I need to ensure that as many audience members as possible have a 'good experience' so that a) they tell their friends and family how good it was and b) they want to come back and see what we do another time. Keeping this in mind, I look at this question of smoking and I can't help but come to the conclusion that, as an actor, why would I need to actually light up on stage, which may cause offense to a number of audience members and take away from their 'good experience'? If I played the role of an axe weilding murderer, I wouldn't actually murder anyone - I would create a character and simulate murders, trusting in my ability and the audience's suspension of disbelief to create that action as real. I can't help but view smoking on stage the same way. Why should I need to actually smoke in order to convey the emotional/physical/psychological effects of doing that? Why don't I just act, using a prop. If I felt the need to actually smoke in order to achieve my desired characterisation I think I would start to question my ability as an actor. Approaching the same question as a director, that concept of ensuring my audience has a 'good experience' resonates even more strongly. The director is far more answerable to the company should a show alienate audiences or generate complaints from audience members. None of the companies I have worked with have felt so secure in their audience that they don't need to worry about alienating them. I come from the school of thought that "You're only as good as your last show" and if the punters have a bad experience, that can turn them away for more than just the one show. So, I respect the reasoning that many people have put forward about smoking being part of a character and therefore necessary to propel the story, but for the reasons I've already said, I personally disagree with that sentiment - but that's my opinion. What I don't respect is this notion that the smoke is non-offensive or there is not enough of it to make a difference etc. Like I said earlier, personally I don't give a rats, but this thread itself has proven that different people have different sensitivities. What doesn't affect one person at all can be truly offensive to someone else. Now whether you want to take that into account or not is up to you, and who am I to tell anyone what they should/should not do, but I think it's important to at least acknowledge that the smoke may affect some people in the audience and that that could lead to a negative experience. That's my two cents anyway :) "Creativity is allowing yourself to make mistakes. Art is knowing which ones to keep." Scott Adams