Richard Sennett, a renowned sociologist of Jewish faith, takes a journey, at the age of 85, through contemporary society. His starting point is that "the world is a stage," a phrase spoken by Jaques in a wonderful monologue from Shakespeare's play As You Like It. Sennett envisions his own life, the world, and politics as a performance. He moves from one topic to another with elegance, without tiring the reader, offering interesting notes and a unique perspective.
The author was a professional musician and understands the art of performance. Violence is dramatized, cities become stages, image, charisma, and demagoguery are part of political life. Body language, the masses and the individual, the sports stadium, the Jews, gestures and fashion, protests as choreography, or culture and civilization all take the stage of life, seeking their role and carrying out their performance.
But, opposite the actor on stage, there is the spectator, who positions themselves in different places depending on the architecture of the building or the city, seen as a theater. It is a performance with its own rites and myths, where one must wear a mask, change costumes, take care of their image according to the effects they wish to achieve, and be mindful of the body, which also speaks.
Many aspects are examined. A certain imbalance is noticeable: some topics he knows well and has experienced, such as music; others are briefly touched upon or distorted, as happens when he discusses an English auto sacramental and makes theological arguments that are difficult to understand and explain—since he also wants to see the Mass as part of this theater.
Nevertheless, it is an enriching read that offers many reflections and helps to better understand this complex world.