The Audience in Theory
Copyright © 2000 Robert C. Huber
"People between the ages of twelve and twenty-nine are buying half of all movie tickets in the U.S."
Michael Kelly, Price Waterhouse Coopers, 2005"The median age of our audience at the American Place Theatre is 41. It's a very young audience . . ." Robert Brustein, theatre director
In our attempt to come to a better understanding of dramatic art we began by comparing its three modes: stage, film, and television. First we looked at how they developed, and how they differ in their position in society. Another path to understanding is to examine the prime elements of dramatic art--audience, actor, and story--in greater detail. We shall look at us: the audience. Relationship to the audience is the single most important factor that distinguishes the three modes of dramatic art from each other.
Audience as Community
Human beings are social animals. We are not like tigers who are solitary most of their lives, except when they come together briefly and violently to mate. Wellmost of us aren't! We are much more like wolves who live communally and develop strong lifelong bonds of mutual affection and support. This part of our nature developed early in our history and is deeply embedded in us today. As animals we are not physically dominant over other predators, having neither fangs nor claws with which to attack or defend ourselves. Lions and bears can easily best us in single combat. So in order to survive and flourish as a species, humans learned to live and work together in small communities. A group of hunters with tools and a plan could subdue even the largest and most dangerous creatures. Through the division of labor a community can better cope with the forces of nature and make the most efficient use of resources for food and shelter. Thus the community imbued us with a primal sense of safety and belonging.
Sociologists often point out that our modern technological society has developed in such a way as to reduce this sense of community. Community is not merely a physical grouping, but people actively sharing the feelings and experience of working together toward mutual goals. We drive to work alone in our cars, labor daily staring at a computer screen in a cubicle, then return to our homes--walled off from our neighbors-where we stare at a television screen to simulate human contact. Today many Americans don't even know their neighbors' names let alone have a communal relationship with them. These conditions have left us with a profound longing for communal contact. Social institutions such as churches, and group activities such as sporting events, help satisfy this need but they alone are not enough as is demonstrated by the proliferation of street gangs and cults in recent years. The dramatic arts also provide an opportunity for a group of people to assemble for the purpose of sharing a common emotional and intellectual experience. The degree and intensity of this sharing differs amongst stage, film and television.
Audience Dynamics
When you curl up on a couch to watch an evening of television, it is likely that there will be only yourself and another, or a few others involved. Moreover you will all know one another as close friends or family. This is the typical television audience, one or a few people who know each other in the comfort of their own home. When you feel the need for a snack or bathroom break, such needs can be easily and conveniently met. When a VCR is in use the pause button allows the experience to be interrupted as needs require. It is the most solitary and fragmented of all the audience experiences. It offers the least to satisfy the need for a true communal experience.
Going to the movies involves a great deal more effort and expense. You must check the papers to find out what is playing and where, get dressed in something other than your pajamas, drive some distance, find a parking space, and buy a ticket. If you need a snack it will cost you more (usually a lot more), and a walk to the rest room is a serious disruption since there is no pause button to push. In other words it requires a greater commitment. On the other hand you will find yourself a part of a larger community who share having had to go through the same ritual you did to get there. As you wait for the picture to start you might chat with those seated near you, or the audience may all react in unison to a funny comment made out loud by someone, or in relief to the lights finally coming down. During the film you will find yourself laughing or choking back tears-sharing emotions-along with others around you. Most people make an effort not to interrupt their experience by coming and going. However, the movie audience, while in close physical proximity with each other, tend to be the most isolated visually from each other. It is typical that there is less ambient light in the movie auditorium than in television or stage situations. You may have noticed that when you come into a movie after the projector has started you often have to wait until your eyes adjust to the darkness, or a particularly bright scene comes on, in order to find your way to a seat. This is not the case with television, and only occurs in the theatre if you happen to come in during a blackout between scenes. Nevertheless, there is much greater potential for a sense of community for an audience at the movies than for television.
If commitment is a factor in creating a sense of community, the stage audience certainly has an advantage, because going to the theatre requires a lot of it. Just knowing what you want to see is a chore. Film with its huge budgets advertises extensively and you are bombarded with ads long before the film has even been released. Most people know what they want to see long before going, and use the newspaper only to find times and locations. Only a very few plays have any television advertising at all, and certainly no trailers (coming events) at the beginning of movies or videos. Consequently, the stage audience has to hunt through newspapers just to find out what's available. Next, theatres are not as numerous or evenly distributed as movie houses so getting there can be an adventure. Many large cities have a "theatre district," often in an older and run-down section of town that is usually at some distance from most of the audience. When you arrive you may well have to pay for parking, and you'd better have a show ticket in hand because it is not uncommon for the most popular plays to sell out in advance. The good news is that most professional theatres will allow you to charge by phone on a credit card; the bad news is how much you'll have to pay. Tickets for big hit musicals can easily reach $50 apiece, and even modest productions often sell for $20. So much for complaining about $8 movie tickets! As if all this weren't enough, you'll also have to dress up a little more than for a movie. If you throw in the cost of a babysitter, gas, and perhaps a little dinner out, the theatre can be a very expensive date indeed! (Be sure to read the section on going "on the cheap" later in this chapter before giving up on ever seeing a play.)
When you finally arrive at the playhouse you will be in the company of a lot of other similarly "committed" people. Theatre audiences tend to socialize in the lobby before going to their seats-and not just because there is no video arcade to occupy their time. Couples or small groups often meet at the theatre and take some time to chat and have a glass of wine. It is also more common for complete strangers to strike up a conversation while looking at the decor or exhibits which are often present. These conversations do not diminish as people file in to their seats. Indeed, the decibel level in a theatre auditorium before the show is quite a bit higher than in most movies. The house lights are typically very bright, and the seating configurations of many theatres are such that you are facing not only the stage, but other sections of the audience as well. In short, the audience is much more aware of itself as a group and there is much more group interaction than any other mode of the dramatic arts. It follows therefore that the sense of communality is much greater for a stage audience than for movies or television. But that is not the end of the story of this hierarchy of communalism. There is not only intra-audience communication going on, but when the show starts there is inter-audience communication between the audience and the performers. In this is found the greatest distinction between the modes of dramatic art.
In film and television, communication between the audience and performer is one way. That is, the performer on the screen communicates to you, but cannot receive communication from you. In the theatre there is two way communication; not only do performers communicate to the audience, but the audience can communicate directly back to them. This is possible, of course, because in the theatre the performers are live. "What," you might ask, "about television shows like Saturday Night Live?" Well, in the first place it is not live for most of its audience, but rather tape delayed. In the case of the live studio audience, they are there simply to provide a reaction for the performers, it is not staged for them. If the show were put on solely for the studio audience the producers would have gone broke years ago. For the intended home audience, the studio audience is merely a living laugh track. In a very real sense Saturday Night Live is theatre for the studio audience, not television. But again, you might ask "What about the East Coast home audience that does see it live?" This brings us to the most important aspect of liveness. That in order to be truly live, the performance must not only occur at the same time that the audience is watching, but in the same place. If you hate the performance of an actor in a film, no amount of yelling or throwing things will effect it (except to make a hole in the screen); the actor will just continue on unaffected. At the very time you are trying to communicate your disgust to her, the actress is oblivious while skiing in Colorado or making another film in London. A performance must occur in the presence of its primary intended audience in order to be live in the fullest sense of that word.
We have used the word medium to describe the materials with which an art is expressed. In the case of dramatic art this material is human behavior. But in common usage, the term medium is also used in another form: media. In this form it refers specifically to the modes of delivery: television, film, and also print. This is what is meant when theatre people lament the fact that so many of their colleagues have "left them for the media." This usage comes from the recognition that unlike theatre, both film and television have a "delivery" layer that comes between the audience and the performer. Theatre delivers its content directly to the audience, but film and television depend on celluloid or electronic "media" to deliver their content. Theatre is direct, film and television are indirect.
Aspects of Liveness
Obviously only the living stage can qualify as live by the preceding definition. But what's so good about live? In what ways does it enhance the experience of an audience? Let me attempt to answer with an analogy. Take a moment to think of one of your favorite recording artists or groups, and hear some of their music in your head. Imagine that you have a really high quality stereo system at home and you are listening to their CD. Now imagine this same artist or group performing live at an outdoor concert in a sports stadium with you sitting in middle priced seats. In which situation will you hear the music most clearly and accurately? Probably the CD, right? Of course, because digital recordings are sonically perfect, and when played back on a good system with no ambient noise or distractions you will hear every note and nuance just the way the artist intended. So if CD's are best, why do so many people spend so much money to see artists in live concerts? For most people the answers include: the excitement of the crowd, the fun of being with those who share your taste and enthusiasm for the artist, the sights and sounds and tastes and smells, the t-shirts on sale, to hook-up with babes or guys, and finally to actually see your idol in person. Does it matter that the music is negatively affected by crowd noise, passing airplanes, distance, and balky sound systems? Not really, because you are here for the event, the experience, the whole package, not just the tunes. The same is true for live theatre. It may not be as technically perfect as the same story told on film, but that's not all we come for. The event is one aspect of liveness that makes the stage special.
Another aspect of liveness is risk. But is this a good thing? Don't people wear seat belts and buy insurance to minimize risk? Yes they do, but people also willingly and enthusiastically engage in risky behavior all the time. Skydiving, bungee jumping, and rock climbing are activities that most people fear because of the risk, yet those who pursue them talk about how they feel more alive when they cheat death and win. Just because something makes you uncomfortable doesn't mean it can't be pleasurable. Don't people go to great lengths to avoid pain? Yes, but people burn their mouths with hot chilies and like it. Risk-taking may be the "hot sauce" of life.
Because an event is happening live there is the risk that things will go wrong. Unlike science, where experiments must be exactly repeatable to prove their validity, in the performing arts we actually prize the unrepeatablity of the live act. It is one of the most important things which distinguish stage from film. We expect that from night to night, performance to performance, subtle changes will occur. These changes include a fresh interpretation or emphasis in saying a line, a new reaction, pause, double-take, or some slight variation in movement or action. But then these are well within the accepted norms of the interpretive role of actors. What about when things really go wrong: an actor forgets his lines, the gun won't fire at a crucial moment, a door gets stuck, the actor opens a drawer to take out an important letter and it's not there? The theatre abounds with tales of situations such as these, and more importantly, how the actors got out of them.
Most of the time the old adage "the show must go on" carries the day. But sometimes things go so amiss that even tradition cannot help. A few years ago an actor doing a one-man show in San Diego died on stage. The action of the play called for him to lay on a park bench under a newspaper during the intermission, and to wake up to signal the start of the second act. When after several minutes into the act he remained motionless, the stage manager rang down the curtain and discovered that the actor had died of a massive stroke. In 1996 an actor at the Metropolitan Opera in New York had just sung the line "You can only live so long" atop a fifteen-foot ladder in The Makropulos Case when he suffered a heart attack and fell to his death on the stage floor. The conductor quickly announced an intermission, and the performance was subsequently canceled.
So how can such incidents be seen as an advantage of live theatre? The fact that they can happen means that the successful completion of any performance is not a certainty. It is this kind of risk that gives live performance its edge. Such risk is why high wire acts are exciting, and why so many people watch auto racing, an otherwise quite boring sport-the risk that something may go wrong. Although sitting in a theatre audience we are usually not conscious of this risk, disaster is there, just beneath the surface, waiting to happen. It's largely an unconscious feeling, but it infects us with a level of anticipation and expectation. When the performance concludes without a disaster, the audience experiences a sense of relief, as if they've all come through an ordeal together and survived. These feelings give live performance a subtle but palpable advantage over recorded ones.
Groupness
The social science of group psychology offers some insights into the nature of this mass of people who come together with common purpose to help create theatre-the audience. It teaches us that people tend to manifest different behaviors when assembled in groups than they do as individuals. There can be a loosening of inhibitions such as when otherwise shy and quiet individuals roll on the floor and speak in tongues during a Pentecostal service, or when otherwise law-abiding citizens riot when caught up in a mob. Part of this may be explained by what behavioral psychologists call reinforcement. There is even a kind of subliminal communication among members of a group in which signals are sent that foster coordinated action. In the animal world this can be observed as a school of fish or flock of birds changes direction instantaneously in coordinated response.
Those who manage theatres for a living have learned to use group psychology to their advantage. Most people tend to preserve their personal space by leaving some distance between themselves and others. Left to select their own seats, members of an audience tend to distribute themselves more or less evenly throughout an auditorium. If the house manager knows that only half of the seats will be sold, it is far better to sell reserved seats and group the audience together because people are more likely to respond when packed together in close proximity. Persons seated in isolation may not laugh out loud for fear of calling attention to themselves, but those closely grouped share a kind of anonymity which encourages freer expression.
Another aspect of the coordination of people in groups is governed by the object of their attention. A group of people viewing a famous painting in a museum is like an audience in some ways. They have bought tickets and have gathered together in a single room directing their attention to a work of art on one wall. In this case, however, each member of the audience may be focused on a different part or aspect of the painting. The art student up front is examining the brush strokes with a magnifying glass, a woman in the back is noticing the overall composition of the subject, and a man is thinking how much the woman in the painting looks like his beloved wife when she was young. In dramatic arts it is very important to direct the entire audience's attention to specific points in their field of view in order that they can get the information they need to follow the story. In film this is done chiefly by camera work-in a sense the cinematographer has his hands on the heads of the audience and is turning and aiming them towards the things he wants them to notice. In theatre it is done more subtly through action and lighting. The important distinction between the art gallery "audience" and that of a play is that the attention of the audience at dramatic art is being focused in a coordinated way that ensures that their emotional response is communal.
The Nature of Two Way Communication
As stated earlier, the stage is unique in that the communication between audience and performer is two-way. Even more important is the notion that this two way communication is dynamic, not linear. This means that when a message is received it affects the nature of the response. It is obvious that performers communicate constantly with the audience by what they do and say--the telling of the story. But what requires closer scrutiny is the great variety of responses that audiences employ. What forms do they take, and what kinds of messages are sent and received? Another point that should be understood is that no actress is so "into" her role that she is unaware of what is happening in the audience. Actors not only can hear the audience, but can even see them through the glare of the lights. They receive messages from the audience constantly and adjust their performances accordingly. This is dynamic communication. In a very real way audiences affect performances; they assist in the creation of the art. In French one says assister à to mean to attend a performance. This acknowledges that the audience is an active participant.
The most common form of audience communication is applause to indicate approval and appreciation. The superlative form of this would include rising to the feet and perhaps shouts of "bravo!" or "author!"-the standing ovation. Other obvious responses include laughter at comedies, or the sniffles and sobs elicited by serious drama or tragedy. The effect of such messages is to reinforce the actor's efforts: "keep it up, you're doing the right thing." The actor's dynamic response is to work even harder. A more subtle message is one sent when an audience becomes absolutely silent. When an actor can hear a pin drop at a moment of high drama he knows that he has the audience in the palm of his hand. Not all messages are positive, but they are just as important, perhaps even more important to an actor. In the past if an audience were very displeased with a performance they might boo the actors or even throw objects at the stage. In Shakespeare's London orange peels or walnut shells were the projectiles at hand. Although in our era audiences are better behaved-even polite-they do express their displeasure clearly. Applause after an act or scene might be withheld, or so sparse as to be embarrassing. Worst of all is a single person clapping slowly and sarcastically. These messages can have great emotional impact. Actress Marian Seldes has said: "When the audience doesn't love what you're doing, that sort of stuns. It's as if you met someone and they pulled their hand back before you'd finished shaking it." Jokes or humorous situations that get no laughs send a clear message, to which an actor may respond by speaking more loudly and clearly, giving more energy to gestures and facial expressions, or even adding comic "bits." One of the most common negative messages is restlessness which is communicated by the sound of squeaking seats, rustling programs, and more than usual coughing and throat-clearing. These sounds when multiplied a thousand times in a large audience can be quite obvious. This is a very clear message that some adjustment is needed, and soon, or the audience will be lost. When people get up and walk out of a performance it can indicate that they are deeply offended by the material. While there is little an actor can do about this, the producers get the message, and may respond by altering or closing the show if it happens often enough.
Audience Demographics
Demography is the study of the characteristics of population segments, usually undertaken in order to identify consumer groups for marketing purposes. Since we have already established that television is the mass medium, it follows that its audience is the largest and most diverse. Nearly everyone is part of its audience. Demographics become important in identifying which shows are favored by specific groups so that advertising can be more effectively targeted at them. Film enjoys a similarly wide audience. People don't spend as much time watching movies as television, but the composition of the audience is very similar.
The theatre audience is another matter entirely. It has been said that only three percent of Americans attend the theatre with any regularity. Even Britons, who many Americans think of as more cultured, have only a five percent attendance figure. When I sit in a theatre audience the following questions often occur to me. Who are these people, anyway? Hardly a cross-section of America. One of the first observations that most of my students make when asked to characterize the audience at the theatre performances they attend for class is that there are so many "elderly" people. Now I'm sure that their definition of elderly at nineteen is different than mine at fiftysomething, but the fact is that the theatre audience is typically older than any other (look at the quotes at the beginning of this chapter). There are several reasons for this. First, theatregoing was more common in the past and some of the oldest members of the audience have simply continued habits developed in their youth. Second, theatre is more costly and some older people have the disposable income to spend on it. Third, retired people have more time to spend finding and getting to plays. And, finally, older people often have wisdom and experience which guides them toward forms of entertainment that have higher quality and enduring value.
The next great delineator of the theatre audience is class. It is often said that America is a classless society, but this is only partly true. Class does exist in America but it is different than that of the old world. Traditional class had to do with your heredity, who your parents were and where they were from. The upper classes were associated with rulers and land owners from the earliest times. Along with this usually came education and inherited wealth. Other classes were similarly defined by heredity and occupation, all the way down to the "untouchables" of India. The key characteristic in old world class societies, whether in England, Japan, India, or Africa, was the difficulty in moving up to a higher class. Even today highly successful working class people in England are often looked down upon by the titled nobility, even though they may have more money and education. In the United States class is defined more by wealth and education (no matter how you got it) than by heredity and political power. While it may sound like a cliché, it is nonetheless true that people in American society who have the will to do so have a greater opportunity to change their economic class than in any other society. Therefore, though we have classes in this country, most people have the opportunity to decide what class they want to be in.
It is quite clear that the average member of the theatre audience is wealthier and better educated than the average member of film and television audiences. As stated earlier the cost of theatre tickets is part of the reason. The second is that most plays are written for audiences that are more highly educated. It is said that American newspapers are written to be understood by someone with a seventh grade education. If that is true, then most theatre is written for college graduates.
Finally, the theatre audience is likely to have a proportion of WASPs and Jews that is greater than their presence in the general population. This is primarily the result of two factors. First, a greater proportion of wealth is held by whites as a result of American history. Although this is changing more rapidly each year, it is still the case. Second, Northern European Jews brought a strong theatre tradition with them to this country. One hundred years ago there was a vital Yiddish language theatre in the largest American cities. Moreover, Jews were excluded from many industries. But the entertainment industry was one that was open to them. On the other hand African-Americans were historically excluded from the theatre by segregation and later by being part of an economic underclass. Another reason for the lack of cultural diversity in the theatre audience is that many non-white immigrants who can afford it, avoid it. Those who brought their wealth with them, particularly Asians, came from countries where theatre was very different from Western forms. Those who came here to escape poverty never experienced theatre as a part of their daily lives in their countries of origin. As immigrant groups and other races become more assimilated or affluent over time, they begin to attend theatre in greater numbers. Latinos, African-Americans, and Asians are showing up at theatres in greater numbers every year.
The average theatre audience is older, more affluent, better educated, and less racially diverse than the average audience of film and television. Always remember, however, that when talking about averages you mustn't lose sight of the specific and particular. There are some plays which are of particular interest to specific groups. When attending the plays of African-American playwright August Wilson for instance, whites in the audience may find themselves in the minority.
Reading Assignment
You should be reading Chapter 2 in your textbook to get more information about the role of the audience and its imagination. Before reading the chapter go to the online quiz at:
I suggest you print out the quiz and mark the answers on the hard copy as you read the chapter. When you are ready to submit your answers, go back online, fill in the "Name" box with your last name, comma, first name--like this: Smith, Jamie. Then fill in the "Email" box with the address you want your your score sent to. Put your 7-digit Cerritos College Student ID number in the third box. Then click the buttons for your answers. Make sure you have filled in your complete email address, not mine. Click on the Submit button at the bottom of the quiz. You will immediately see a confirmation that your quiz has been sent. Right after the due date I will forward your score and a copy of your corrected quiz to you.
Lecture Exercise
Give an example of the dynamic nature of two-way communication between audience and live performer that you have personally observed. Be specific--tell me the name of the show and where and when it was. It can be any live performance--play, music, dance, or even a comedy club, but give me a theatre example if you can. Remember that dynamic means that change occurs on both sides of the curtain.
The purpose of these exercises is to show me you "attended" this specific lecture by employing the relevant points from the lecture in your answer to the question. Review the lecture and be sure you are answering in terms of what's there, not just your opinion.
Note that when submitting the answer start the subject line with:
TH101DE -- YourFirst&LastName -- L-4
Next lecture: The Audience in Practice