Introduction to the Theatre

THE 101 / University of Idaho

Chapter 3 / The Audience

“You need three things in the theater - the play, the actors, and the audience,

 and each must give something.”  - Kenneth Haig.

     Theatre, by its nature, is a process of participation.  It requires the give and take between the artist and the observer.   Each needs the other to have a complete artistic and theatrical experience and, as a result, both have important roles and responsibilities.  This chapter will focus on the participation of the audience and the dynamic that is created between the performer and observer.

     One way to look at the audience dynamic is whether or not the performance requires active or passive viewing.   Passive viewing occurs when the performance being watched does not include the presence of a live performer, such as watching movies or television.   This does not mean to imply that the audience member is getting nothing from the experience.   On the contrary, both film and television are very powerful mediums and can illicit great emotional responses.   The point is not that the viewer is unaffected it is that the performer is unaffected.   The actor is not there and their performances, while professional and complete, are created, edited, and “canned” for distribution.   The performance will be the same whether it is in Indianapolis or Houston.   Because of this absence, audience behavior changes.   For example, audience members are not expected to clap for or laugh with the actor in film or television.   On the other hand, active viewing like a music concert or a dance performance expects you to sit quietly, exercise good manners, and react to the performance politely.   Theatre is the same.   In theatre, there is no rewind or pause, there is no remote to ‘surf’ past the slow parts, theatre occurs in real time.   Live performances require the full attention of the viewer.   There are always possibilities for mistakes, so concentration must be maintained.

     In addition, what also separates the experience of watching theater from television and the movies are the issues of accessibility and convenience.   It is easier to go to the movies, or sit at home and watch television than go to a play.   Movies and Television are less threatening both socially and intellectually.   In theatre there are no previews or trailers of upcoming attractions to indicate content.   Although you might have a general idea about the plot and action of the play, you do not know what you are truly going to see.   It is a mystery.   In addition, the entire event of going to a live performance is formalized. Because these events are usually limited by a certain number of performances, tickets are normally purchased ahead of time and, in some cases, subscribing to an entire season of performances is necessary to assure availability.   People do not usually go to the theater just to see 'what’s on.'   Audience members plan and even shop for 'what is out there.'   They make a formal commitment to go and this, in itself, makes theater less accessible and convenient.   Going to the theatre is a planned event.

     However, the flip side to this ‘film and television vs. theater’ debate is what the modern day theatrical audience has gained from their exposure to theater’s more passive siblings.   Modern audiences have become more visually literate and possess a cinematic vocabulary and intelligence.   For instance, through the accessibility of television news audience members are more aware of the world around them.  They are exposed to diverse issues and cultures.   Through movies, audience members have been exposed to film techniques.  They understand, at least on a subliminal level, the use of montage and can mentally register how different kinds of edits guide the viewer through the sequence of events.   In addition, they understand and accept non-linear writing and the use of flashbacks. In addition, classic plays have been recently made into contemporary films making theater more accessible.   For instance, there have recently been two major motion pictures produced of William Shakespeare’s Hamlet starring Mel Gibson, and Kenneth Branaugh in the title role, not to mention the neo-punk/funk retro version of Romeo and Juliet featuring Leonardo Dicaprio.   Moreover, audiences posses more knowledge and have more access to information about theatre in general through books, video taped productions, the World Wide Web, and courses like this.   However, even with all of these advantages the major difference between film and theatre remains to be that theatre is a real time event and the action happens in front of the audience.   It is this single difference that establishes all live performance - and especially theatrical ones, as both a unique collective and personal experience for the audience.

    Theatre is a unique collective experience for the audience because it is seen by a single specific group of people for one particular performance.   The play being performed may stay the same every night, but the individual make up of the audience will change, and it is this complex mix of individuals, which create the audience’s chemistry.   This chemistry is determined and influenced by a number of different factors.  For example, what is the composition of the audience in regard to age, class, gender, and race?   Is the audience mostly composed of workers recently laid off or did the company just give everyone a yearly bonus?   The audience’s mood can shape and change the performance by how their total mood influences their responses towards the actors.   This happens because the actors are human beings not images.   The actors see your yawns and hear your coughs.   They feel the rustle of the distracted audience and they will react to you as much as you react to them.   It is the quality of this interaction that can determine the quality of the performance on any given night.

    If you then think of theater as a journey, then consider the following five elements as the major participants in the expedition.   The five interactive elements are:

·        Script

·        Direction

·        Acting

·        Design

·        Audience

    These elements are interactive and can shift slightly from performance to performance.   The first four are collaboratively mixed and aimed at the audience.   The playwright has developed the script so we can understand what the story is about, who the characters are, what the chain of events are, and how the story, characters, and events are tied together.   The script serves as the map we follow to take the journey.   If parts of the play are not fully connected or are missing we will have trouble understanding the play.   The map must be complete.

     The director crafts the play into a cohesive unit so that we can understand the dialogue and action of the actors.   The director is like the navigator who uses the map (script) to chart the course.   It is necessary that the instruction of the navigator be followed and understood by all of the other participants.   Moreover, clear directions must be given.

     The actor acts as our personal guide.  He or she is the person we follow throughout the play.   It is necessary that they speak clearly and portray their character believably.   If you cannot hear the lines, or if the necessary movements of an actor's character are forgotten or not included, our attention is distracted.   It is necessary, that as an audience, the actors take us on this journey, if not, we will become lost.

     The design provides the visual texture upon which the journey takes place.   It adds a sense of mood and provides the audience with more clues in understanding the play.   It also should make sense and serve the purpose of the play.   For instance, it would make no sense to travel by boat through the desert.  Thus, the design is the visual landscape of the journey.

     The fifth element, the audience, is a wild card.   The audience adds a sense of urgency and suspense.   An unruly or inattentive audience affects the production.   Expedition members that do not pay attention might miss the boat or might prove so distracting to the guides (the actors) that they too can become lost and forget to follow the navigator’s directions or misplace the map!   Setting this “journey” analogy aside, it will become apparent to you how these elements work together to create a total evening of theatre throughout this course.

     In addition to the script, direction, acting, design, and audience, there are three final factors, which help create the audience dynamic.   These elements are best represented by three important questions.

Why does an individual go to the theater?

Where do they draw the line?

What allows them to watch something they know is not real?

     These questions are resolved by three distinct answers: by the audience's knowledge and enjoyment of the experience, by their aesthetic distance, and by their “willing suspension of disbelief” (Colridge).   Through this class you will learn many things about theatre increasing your enjoyment and making it less threatening and more personally accessible.   You will find that people go to the theatre because they enjoy the nature of the live event and are not intimidated by it.   In addition, if the theatrical audience enjoys the event, and they will probably come back.  Over time, this builds a solid audience base and creates advocates of the theater.   In addition, an audience has an aesthetic distance.   Physically, this means that an audience is happy to participate by viewing and reacting, but their involvement usually stops there.   Psychologically, the audience has a sense of taste and decorum that they will not go past.   Any attack on those sensibilities, whether intentional or unintentional, will change the audience dynamic.   Finally, when an individual goes to the theatre they are willing to suspend their disbelief.   We know that the actors are only portraying characters and that these situations are the product of a writer-yet we allow ourselves to believe.   In a sense, this is the imaginative mind at work, stretching and exercising.   For the sake of the journey, we allow ourselves to believe the world of the theatre.   As you can see, the audience interaction in theatre is quite complex and immensely important

The Audience as Critic

     In this class, you will be asked to be both an audience member and a critic.   Criticism is a crucial part of the theatre experience.   As you will discover, artists use criticism to test the approaches and theories of their art form.   For instance, actors use criticism to determine the current nature of their approach to a character and to the usefulness of various techniques.   Playwrights may use criticism to test the clarity of the play’s content and directors may use it to gauge the audience’s reaction and make changes if necessary.   In general, artists of all mediums use criticism to discover the appropriate nature of their experimentation.

     The classical definition of a critic is “someone who responds to theatre with knowledge and understanding."   For the purposes of this course, it is more important to find the difference between criticizing and critiquing.   Someone who criticizes can only find fault in what they see.   They have the “theater as a blood sport, take no prisoners, and I refuse to accept the experience” attitude.   In contrast, a critic who balances the good with the bad and presents an even assessment of the faults and successes in the production is someone who critiques.   It is this model of critiquing that you will be expected to emulate.  You will be asked to do reviews of the productions you see.   A review is very different from a formal criticism.   A review is a surface exploration of the contributing parts of the production, the plot, and the characters.   A review also covers the who, what, where, why, and when of the production, as well as, the how.   On the other hand, a formal criticism is an in depth intellectual exploration of the production.   It explores the play's relation to its place within dramatic history and theory.   Since you will be a critic, you will need to carry five important traits with you into the theatre.   You will need to be:

·        Observant

·        Informed

·        Sensitive

·        Demanding

·        Articulate

     You will need to be observant and pay close attention to what you see, hear, and feel.   You will need to be informed-so read the program.   This will help you to identify the characters when they appear.   In addition, director’s notes can fill you in on any historically important aspects of the play, in the play's translation, or the director's feelings toward the work.   You will need to be sensitive towards the nature of live theatre.   If you need take notes do so as inconspicuously and quickly as possible.   Better still, take notes immediately afterwards.   If the play is bad, refrain from loud groans, sighs, and other bodily noises and let the actors do their work.   In addition to being respectful you also should be demanding and there are two quite simple reasons for this.   First, you paid for the ticket, and you should expect the best production possible.   Secondly, you should be entertained - meaning that you “enjoyed” the performance and got something personally beneficial out of it.   Finally, you should be articulate about your likes and dislikes, meaning you should weave your emotional responses together with intellectual justifications.

     A critic also needs to see the play from five critical perspectives.   I think of these perspectives as a series of windows in a tower, each looking out over a vista of the play.   Essentially, the critic should continue to look at the play through these different windows as the play progresses. The five perspectives are:

·        Social

·        Personal

·        Artistic

·        Theatrical

·        Entertainment

     From a social perspective, the critic needs to view the play in relation to the current human condition.   What does this play have to do with reality?   Does this play represent ongoing problems in society and then try to resolve them?   Does the play have a socially redeeming value?   Does it connect or reconnect you to your culture or society?   This particular social perspective is your connection to the play as a member of society.

     The personal perspective is the check on the critic's perceptive filter as outlined by the communication model in Chapter 2.   There are questions you should ask to see if your perceptual filters are at work.   Did I misunderstand the play because it was incomplete and confusing, or was it because it is against everything I believe?   Am I being fair in my approach to the disturbing content of the play?   How does the critic relate personally to the play?   Have these circumstances happened to you?   Have they happened to a member of you family, or a friend?   This particular perspective is your personal connection as an individual with the play.

     Moreover, the artistic perspective relates to how well the style of the production matched the script and the action.   Was the production well done artistically?   Was a sense of mood created?   Did the colors, shapes, and textures convey the feeling of the play?   Were the production elements coordinated, and if not was it intentional or was it a mistake?   In previous chapters we discussed what art is and you defined what art means to you.   This perspective is your aesthetic connection to the play.

     A theatrical perspective includes the structure of the play and its place within the theatrical spectrum.   You will have a better sense of this when we learn theatrical history.   Where does this play fit in the spectrum of theatre history and style?   What is its genre?   This serves as a reference or as a benchmark by which to examine the text and its historical relation to the past.   This perspective is your analytical connection to the play.

     Finally, there is the perspective of entertainment.   From this vantage point you should ask, “was it entertaining."   Did it hold your attention?   Did you feel involved?   Did you relate to the content?  Did you enjoy yourself?   Were you moved emotionally?   Essentially, this is your connection to the play as an audience member.   These five perspectives should be viewed during the time you watch the play.   It is too hard to reconstruct these windows of perception after the fact.

     Finally, a critic needs to ask these four simple questions of any play after it is over: What is the playwright trying to say and did they succeed?

What is the production trying to do and did they accomplish it?

How well was it done?

Was it worth doing?

     You will find as a writer that these four questions will be immensely useful in unlocking your ideas for your review.