Have Audience Members Lost Respect for the Art?
27-7-15
Theater etiquette rules are fairly straightforward: don’t be late, keep quiet during the show and if you are not a cast or crew member, stay off the stage.
These rules didn’t seem to trouble one audience member at a recent Broadway performance of puppet based religious comedy Hand to God. The audience member in question began climbing on to the stage of the Booth Theatre before the show started to plug in his phone that was out of battery. The outlet on stage was part of the set and obviously fake. Stage Managers came onto stage and asked the man to leave.
A performance photo from Hand to God, where an audience member tried to plug their phone in on stage...
Now here's the thing I find particularly funny about this story. There were no steps leading up to the stage; so this person had to physically leap or lift himself onto the stage. And this was at a Broadway show! What is considered the highest caliber of performances... What in the hell was he thinking? Was he crazy or did he just have no respect for the art of theatre?
Is this what the world/and the future state of our audiences is coming to?
Do people have so little respect for the art form that they've gone beyond texting in the house to trying to plug their phones in on stage... When people come to a Broadway show is there first priority, "OMG! My phone is dying!!! I can't tweet about it!!!"?
We recently received a letter to the editor regarding poor audience behavior during The Sound of Music's recent tour to Hong Kong. What do you think should be done about this? Do we need to take it upon our ourselves as artists' to re-educate the public on what I feel is common sense in a theatre? Or should we employ militant ushers to bring the hammer down?
Your thoughts and opinions are deeply appreciated...
Comments
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