What constitutes a worthwhile performance?

It is virtually impossible to give an exact definitive as to what constitutes a worthwhile performance, and it is inevitably personal. For me, a worthwhile performance has to do one of the following things for me: Challenge me, educate me or enlighten me. That is not to say that performances that are purely aesthetic or funny aren't good entertainment- but perhaps they are not worthwhile to me. A performance doesnt have to be something that is deliberate- ie performed in a theatre, a film masterpiece or a comedian's sketch. Some of the best performances I have seen are political protests, home-made cartoons posted on "Youtube", children's tantrums, or simply watching an awkward situation on a bus, or a couple having an argument unaware that I have placed a frame around them just as a TV does to a soap opera.
Worthwhile performances do not have to be sleek and rehearsed, but I do think it is important that a performance has some something to say that will make the viewer think after the performance after it has finished. When I watched "The Glamorous Kitten Killer" on "You-Tube" I was immediatly repulsed & thought it was awful entertainment, which it is. However, it has challenged me and made me think about the sort of world that we are living in; What stage is society at if somebody has deliberately made a film of brutally killing an animal to ensure popular viewing figures on "You-Tube"? And is it human nature that compells some people to watch the footage or are we turning into a colder, selfish & more perverted & voyeuristic society...?

Posted by Kim