Sometime last year I posted a response to a different, yet parallel topic. Unfortunately, I have not been able to link to it, as I cannot locate it.
In that post there were several good links and I followed a few of them up and found on that actually conducted medical exams of actors before and after performances and also asked for their perceptions on how the
smoke affected them. Where most other studies just ask the actors about how they feel.
The main finding was that there was no medical evidence to suggest that the use of
smoke/
haze/pyrotechnic
smoke actually caused any physical changes in their upper airways, vocal cords or eyes (the main symptomatic areas reported in previous studies).
The main factors involved with reported symptoms were:
* number of performances per day;
* physical demands of their
role;
* vocal demands of their
role and;
* stress associated with the performance.
The study found that an actor that was physically and vocally challenged in a
play with
smoke reported similar symptoms when the
play was performed without
smoke. Likewise, an actor in a fairly stress free part listed few symptoms regardless of whether or not
smoke was used.
From what I have read, this is the only study that has taken into account the actual physiological changes and not simply based its conclusions on the subjective
feedback of the actors.
It seemed that the presence of
smoke was a psychological stimulus for the actors and blamed as the cause for certain symptoms. What appears to actually happen is that in two similar shows and roles (in terms of physical and vocal workload), the show that used some form of
smoke/
haze was no different in physical effects to the actors than a similar (or possibly the same) show in which no
smoke/
haze was used.
Whilst Jon raises a good
point about the manipulation of the facts to achieve a desired result, I think that it is important to note that in many cases the issues may be related either to the smell or a conditioned response that
smoke is bad for you. After all, any fire training / public information will advise you to
drop to the floor and crawl to avoid
smoke inhalation, as it is toxic and most people that die in a fire do so from
smoke inhalation. Yet here we are telling them it is (relatively) safe. Now if I was an actor, I would probably believe the fire department and health authorities that tell me
smoke is bad over a tech telling me that this is a different
smoke that is safe.
Just another slant on things.
