The audience will usually passively accept the presence of the fourth wall without giving it any direct thought, allowing them to enjoy the fiction as if they were observing real events. The presence of a fourth wall is one of the best established conventions of fiction and as such has led some artists to draw direct attention to it for dramatic effect.
The Fourth Wall was formed out of the early 90’s Halifax band, Dark Carnival. Dave Swim and John Rosborough met up with drummer Bruce Thompson and formed the band that played a lot of discreet warehouse parties from 1991 – 1992. Staying clear of most of local bars that were catering to the top 40 cover bands, Dark Carnival created quite a buzz in many of the fraternities and underground party scenes. In the summer of 1992, John and Bruce met Ron Foley MacDonald and decided to write and record a full length album that would be finished by Christmas and released on CD. Because John had recorded much of the music and vocals, he decided to front a new line up to be called The Fourth Wall. Bruce had met a local guitar player that December named Paul Hutt, who was running a Jam space in a marble factory. He was asked by Bruce to play rhythm guitar for the band, and the new lineup was complete. Beltane Born was released in early 1993 during the East Coast Music Awards and the band has been lingering in the shadows ever since getting together playing a few scattered shows along with a lot of unreleased recordings. The line up today consists of John Rosborough, Bruce Thompson, Paul Hutt and new bassist Dave Keogh.
Although it originated in theatre, where conventional three-walled stage sets provide a more literal "fourth wall", the term has been adopted by others, to more generally refer to the boundary between the fiction and the audience.
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