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Post by 49thand8th on May 3, 2019 15:15:14 GMT
I think in some contexts, you can't lump singing along with the other things, but OK. Anyway, I found this interview with Morriseau from two years ago (short mention of Ain't Too Proud, but not about audience behavior). I really do wonder what she'd make of The Root article. www.theatermania.com/off-broadway/news/interview-dominique-morisseau-pipeline-temptations_81652.htmlPipeline is a play that calls for responses from its audience members, and Morisseau is proud to make that clear. Every program distributed before the show comes with a leaflet titled "Playwright's Rules of Engagement," which includes such dictums as "You are allowed to laugh audibly" and "You are allowed to have audible moments of reaction and response."
Morisseau takes a breath when describing the pamphlet. "My shows that have been programmed at theaters across the country have predominantly white audiences in their subscriber base. I have seen the sprinkle of audience members of color who have a conflict of engagement with those white audiences. Or maybe, those white audiences have a conflict of engagement with those audiences of color. There are moments I've noticed, repeatedly, where the people of color think they are guests in the space. They hush as though they've broken the rule of the space, instead of engaging with my work the way I think my work demands, which is with a little bit of an audible response." Morisseau's written encouragement of interaction allows all audiences to realize that it's OK to be vocal, and that theater is a communal activity. "What I've asked for is space for the community to respond to my work."
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Post by Deleted on May 3, 2019 15:34:49 GMT
Taking cultural differences into account is perfectly valid. If the playwright specifically wants the audience to vocally engage with a piece and you take issue with that, then you might as well advocate sitting stone-faced at a pantomime and shhhing all the kids as they scream "HE'S BEHIND YOU!".
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5,585 posts
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Post by lynette on May 3, 2019 16:45:31 GMT
I often wonder what Shakespeare expected to happen when Iago says, 'so who is it then, that says I pay the villain? ' or similar. ( Too lazy to go and check the quote, sorry.) But there are moments when Iago appears to be breaking the fourth wall, not just soliloquy- wise and I think the audience would have jeered and shouted and the actor would have had to deal with that reaction and this would colour the play, making us even more complicit with his evil because we engage with him.
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Post by Deleted on May 3, 2019 17:28:52 GMT
There's a story somewhere online of a production of Measure For Measure performed at a women's prison, and the audience responding to Isabella's "To whom should I complain? Did I tell this Who would believe me?" monologue as though it is actually a conversation with the audience (and tbh monologues kindof are a conversation with the audience, albeit usually a fairly one-sided one), and it's pretty amazing.
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Post by winonaforever on May 3, 2019 18:18:58 GMT
Taking cultural differences into account is perfectly valid. If the playwright specifically wants the audience to vocally engage with a piece and you take issue with that, then you might as well advocate sitting stone-faced at a pantomime and shhhing all the kids as they scream "HE'S BEHIND YOU!". And then you can either enjoy that kind of performance, or avoid the production if you hate the idea (like I saw Heathers lots of times, but loathed the idea of the sing-a-long and didn't go that night) I like audience participation, but only when it feels appropriate, not when it spoils the theatre experience for me.
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2,041 posts
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Post by 49thand8th on May 3, 2019 18:36:58 GMT
Yeah, I've always wondered if casts of shows like Jersey Boys or The Cher Show really mean it when they sound so enthusiastic about audience members singing along. Maybe they don't really care? Maybe we're all too uptight sometimes? Maybe both or neither?
(P.S. The author of that article on The Root is a woman!)
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Post by Deleted on May 3, 2019 19:26:40 GMT
If people can guffaw to show that they recognise that a particular line of Shakespeare was intended by the author to be a joke even though it hasn't been funny for at least 300 years, then it's 100% a double-standard to get snippy at a single "yeah!" coming from someone recognising an unexpected Busta Rhymes reference.
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1,866 posts
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Post by Marwood on May 4, 2019 17:29:32 GMT
Avalanche: A Love Story at the Barbican last night: row Q of the stalls (before you ask why I should choose to sit in such a seat, let’s just say I was offered the ticket, accepted the offer and leave it at that) - a couple next to me turned about five minutes before it started, both drinking by the look (and sound) of things - the woman was no problem at all but after 5-10 minutes the man was in a loop of yawning (bloody loudly), then falling asleep and snoring equally bloody loudly, then snapping awake and checking his phone for updates and in doing so lighting up the back of the theatre (with numerous vibrating notifications then echoing around the building as his brethren then messaged him) I tolerated an hour of this shenanigans before bailing, but not before notifying the stewards outside of laughing boys antics (I didn’t hang around to see what ensued)
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Post by Deleted on May 4, 2019 19:36:56 GMT
Avalanche: A Love Story at the Barbican last night: row Q of the stalls (before you ask why I should choose to sit in such a seat, let’s just say I was offered the ticket, accepted the offer and leave it at that) - a couple next to me turned about five minutes before it started, both drinking by the look (and sound) of things - the woman was no problem at all but after 5-10 minutes the man was in a loop of yawning (bloody loudly), then falling asleep and snoring equally bloody loudly, then snapping awake and checking his phone for updates and in doing so lighting up the back of the theatre (with numerous vibrating notifications then echoing around the building as his brethren then messaged him) I tolerated an hour of this shenanigans before bailing, but not before notifying the stewards outside of laughing boys antics (I didn’t hang around to see what ensued) Marwood I’m assuming that you leaving was also to do with the show? I had to move my tickets from last week. It seems to have sold appallingly. Going on Thursday now.
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Post by Deleted on May 4, 2019 19:46:42 GMT
Rock of Ages today. Hen parties, people standing up mid-song when it wasn't the finale, constant runs to the bars and the toilets mid-show. At the stage door, one of the cast said that he was trying to make a quick exit to avoid that lot.
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4,361 posts
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Post by shady23 on May 4, 2019 19:51:57 GMT
Do the ushers still patrol the seats selling alcohol DURING THE SHOW like they did when it was based in London?
That wound me up no end. So distracting.
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1,866 posts
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Post by Marwood on May 4, 2019 19:58:00 GMT
Avalanche: A Love Story at the Barbican last night: row Q of the stalls (before you ask why I should choose to sit in such a seat, let’s just say I was offered the ticket, accepted the offer and leave it at that) - a couple next to me turned about five minutes before it started, both drinking by the look (and sound) of things - the woman was no problem at all but after 5-10 minutes the man was in a loop of yawning (bloody loudly), then falling asleep and snoring equally bloody loudly, then snapping awake and checking his phone for updates and in doing so lighting up the back of the theatre (with numerous vibrating notifications then echoing around the building as his brethren then messaged him) I tolerated an hour of this shenanigans before bailing, but not before notifying the stewards outside of laughing boys antics (I didn’t hang around to see what ensued) Marwood I’m assuming that you leaving was also to do with the show? I had to move my tickets from last week. It seems to have sold appallingly. Going on Thursday now. The show didn’t help - being a single man without any children I know I wasn’t the target audience for this and while the show was of interest for the first half an hour or so, and I could see the point of it and appreciated Maxine Peakes input, the clown sat two seats aways actions - and the thought there was the best part of another hour to go made me realise there were other things I’d rather be going on a Friday night.
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Post by Deleted on May 4, 2019 20:01:56 GMT
Do the ushers still patrol the seats selling alcohol DURING THE SHOW like they did when it was based in London? That wound me up no end. So distracting. Not during, but it was an ATG venue so they have the daft Ordertorium stripy menu thing pre-show and at interval.
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Post by winonaforever on May 4, 2019 20:55:31 GMT
Marwood I’m assuming that you leaving was also to do with the show? I had to move my tickets from last week. It seems to have sold appallingly. Going on Thursday now. The show didn’t help - being a single man without any children I know I wasn’t the target audience for this and while the show was of interest for the first half an hour or so, and I could see the point of it and appreciated Maxine Peakes input, the clown sat two seats aways actions - and the thought there was the best part of another hour to go made me realise there were other things I’d rather be going on a Friday night. I'm going tomorrow. I have no interest whatsoever in the subject, I just want to see Maxine Peake. I definitely won't be looking at my phone though, however bored I get!😇
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1,907 posts
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Post by sf on May 8, 2019 19:35:00 GMT
I think this afternoon was the first time I've ever turned round and told a member of a theatre's staff to shut up during a performance. After decades of seeing shows there, my expectations of the front of house staff at the Opera House and the Palace in Manchester are rock-bottom, but this afternoon the Opera House staff exceeded them. First, I was sitting in the back row of the stalls, right in front of the drinks/ice-cream kiosk, and the staff waited until twenty seconds after the overture had started to NOISILY roll up a security screen on the bar - apparently so they could turn off the fridge, which the King and I's production company insists on - the front-of-house supervisor I spoke to at the interval seemed more anxious to blame the production company than to take responsibility for her staff and apologise for their cloddish behaviour. Then, during 'Something Wonderful', two staff members stood next to this kiosk and started a conversation. You know, while the lights are down, with a performance in progress. These are people who have no business working in a theatre. That's unprofessional and rude, and shows an absolute lack of respect for the audience.
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Post by Deleted on May 9, 2019 6:15:52 GMT
I’ve only been to the Palace once and the staff seemed slightly overzealous and rude in general, apart from the people in the box office and one of the people in the bar.
For example, going into the auditorium, my friend and I get our tickets checked (it was single seats remaining and we booked last minute so we aren’t sitting together), usher says “you do realise you’re in completely different areas” - I mean yes we realised that when we booked tickets.
He said it quite grumpily and sarcastically which annoyed me.
I also find the G4S security guards to lack common sense regarding everyday items, at ATG theatres in general. I have a sealed bottle of water and a notebook and pen in my bag. I am not a criminal.
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Post by Deleted on May 9, 2019 9:37:50 GMT
I’ve only been to the Palace once and the staff seemed slightly overzealous and rude in general, apart from the people in the box office and one of the people in the bar. For example, going into the auditorium, my friend and I get our tickets checked (it was single seats remaining and we booked last minute so we aren’t sitting together), usher says “you do realise you’re in completely different areas” - I mean yes we realised that when we booked tickets. He said it quite grumpily and sarcastically which annoyed me. I also find the G4S security guards to lack common sense regarding everyday items, at ATG theatres in general. I have a sealed bottle of water and a notebook and pen in my bag. I am not a criminal. One visit is probably an unfair amount to make quite a sweeping judgement. Given the amount of people that end up in the wrong section or the wrong level even, you can't blame an usher for actually pointing out the obvious and applying some damage limitation. Especially at a show like Wicked where the house full with mostly the occasional theatre-tripper and the excitable youth. Also, not sure if you are aware, but fairly recently there was quite a large explosion at Manchester Arena. So "overzealous" security checks are frequent and necessary as a result. I'm sure if there wasn't security on the doors and the patron next to you brought in a bottle of wine you'd be up in arms. Likewise if a device makes it's way into the venue and detonates you'd be a bit miffed that all the merch had been destroyed. Whilst it may feel trivial, it's a preventative method paramount to your safety.
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Post by hannechalk on May 9, 2019 14:22:18 GMT
.. and the staff waited until twenty seconds after the overture had started to NOISILY roll up a security screen on the bar - apparently so they could turn off the fridge It was my biggest annoyance at the Kings Theatre in Southsea last Saturday - the quieter moments were ruined by the constant humming and buzzing of the freezers in the corners next to the stage.
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Post by sf on May 9, 2019 15:27:54 GMT
.. and the staff waited until twenty seconds after the overture had started to NOISILY roll up a security screen on the bar - apparently so they could turn off the fridge It was my biggest annoyance at the Kings Theatre in Southsea last Saturday - the quieter moments were ruined by the constant humming and buzzing of the freezers in the corners next to the stage. I don't have any argument at all with them needing to turn off the fridges. It's just that they should have done it before they rolled down the security screen, and that the noise from rolling the screen up again was so disruptive that they shouldn't have done it once the overture had started.
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Post by xanady on May 9, 2019 18:08:22 GMT
sf is absolutely correct in saying that once a performance has started there should be no interruptions whatsoever from FOH at all unless it is an emergency of some sort.Messing around with bar shutters,chatting away and God knows what else is lazy,rude,disorganised and frankly selfish.As for bag searches,I am with Serial Shusher.We live in a world where terrorism is a clear and present threat every single day and as the Bataclan attack in France showed,a theatre or concert venue is a potential target so let security take as long as they need to do their checks.
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Post by kimbahorel on May 9, 2019 18:17:23 GMT
The noisy FOH staff reminds of when I went to Haymarket and the usher once the show started made so much noise at the back of the stalls. She sat down for sone of it then I looked around she was on the floor between the seats (I assume dropped something and she was looking for it).
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Post by xanady on May 9, 2019 18:19:43 GMT
Matt Broderick and Liz McGovern currently on THE ONE SHOW discussing bad behaviour in theatres.Well worth a watch on BBC I-player.
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Post by Deleted on May 9, 2019 19:43:36 GMT
I’ve only been to the Palace once and the staff seemed slightly overzealous and rude in general, apart from the people in the box office and one of the people in the bar. For example, going into the auditorium, my friend and I get our tickets checked (it was single seats remaining and we booked last minute so we aren’t sitting together), usher says “you do realise you’re in completely different areas” - I mean yes we realised that when we booked tickets. He said it quite grumpily and sarcastically which annoyed me. I also find the G4S security guards to lack common sense regarding everyday items, at ATG theatres in general. I have a sealed bottle of water and a notebook and pen in my bag. I am not a criminal. One visit is probably an unfair amount to make quite a sweeping judgement. Given the amount of people that end up in the wrong section or the wrong level even, you can't blame an usher for actually pointing out the obvious and applying some damage limitation. Especially at a show like Wicked where the house full with mostly the occasional theatre-tripper and the excitable youth. Also, not sure if you are aware, but fairly recently there was quite a large explosion at Manchester Arena. So "overzealous" security checks are frequent and necessary as a result. I'm sure if there wasn't security on the doors and the patron next to you brought in a bottle of wine you'd be up in arms. Likewise if a device makes it's way into the venue and detonates you'd be a bit miffed that all the merch had been destroyed. Whilst it may feel trivial, it's a preventative method paramount to your safety. Yes I get that, and I understand why they do it, I’m more than willing for someone to look inside my bag if it guarantees the venue remains safe. It just generally felt a lot more strict than other ATG venues, but remembering what has happened in the past I can understand why.
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Post by floorshow on May 9, 2019 20:41:26 GMT
I could write a book about the gentlemen to my right tonight but in summary they are the worst! At one point, they were comparing the programme to spotify, with music audibly coming from their headphones. We're only in the second interval so still another 45 mins of this, sigh...
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Post by noboiscout on May 9, 2019 20:44:18 GMT
One visit is probably an unfair amount to make quite a sweeping judgement. Given the amount of people that end up in the wrong section or the wrong level even, you can't blame an usher for actually pointing out the obvious and applying some damage limitation. Especially at a show like Wicked where the house full with mostly the occasional theatre-tripper and the excitable youth. Also, not sure if you are aware, but fairly recently there was quite a large explosion at Manchester Arena. So "overzealous" security checks are frequent and necessary as a result. I'm sure if there wasn't security on the doors and the patron next to you brought in a bottle of wine you'd be up in arms. Likewise if a device makes it's way into the venue and detonates you'd be a bit miffed that all the merch had been destroyed. Whilst it may feel trivial, it's a preventative method paramount to your safety. Yes I get that, and I understand why they do it, I’m more than willing for someone to look inside my bag if it guarantees the venue remains safe. It just generally felt a lot more strict than other ATG venues, but remembering what has happened in the past I can understand why. That's the nub of the matter - I would have no problems with bag checks if they ensured that the venue remained safe. But in my experience checks are perfunctory, and if anyone wanted to smuggle in dangerous items they can still do so in coats, trouser pockets, or elsewhere. I suspect it's an insurance requirement - although that doesn't explain why some venues such as the National Theatre don't carry out checks at all!
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Post by Deleted on May 9, 2019 21:10:38 GMT
Yes I get that, and I understand why they do it, I’m more than willing for someone to look inside my bag if it guarantees the venue remains safe. It just generally felt a lot more strict than other ATG venues, but remembering what has happened in the past I can understand why. That's the nub of the matter - I would have no problems with bag checks if they ensured that the venue remained safe. But in my experience checks are perfunctory, and if anyone wanted to smuggle in dangerous items they can still do so in coats, trouser pockets, or elsewhere. I suspect it's an insurance requirement - although that doesn't explain why some venues such as the National Theatre don't carry out checks at all! I've only actually been searched at ATG (West End and regional) and Delfont Mack venues. I've never seen such checks at any other regional (non-ATG) venues and I can't really remember what the procedures were like at the LWT and Nimax venues I've visited.
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Post by vdcni on May 10, 2019 7:36:50 GMT
At the Old Vic last Saturday the gentlemen next to me nodded off in the first act, it wasn't initially disturbing though he did then start to snore but a quick elbow to the ribs sorted that out so other than some slightly louder breathing it wasn't really noticeable and he woke up after about 15 minutes. Thankfully a drink and an ice cream at the interval perked him up and he made it through the second act without any problems.
I guess it's my own fault for taking my husband to the theatre.
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Xanderl
Member
Not always very high value in terms of ticket yield or donations
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Post by Xanderl on May 10, 2019 8:00:31 GMT
I don't mind bag searches when they are about security, it annoys me when (eg at the ENO) the aim is to enforce their "no outside food or drinks" policy.
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Post by Deleted on May 10, 2019 8:56:19 GMT
Yes I get that, and I understand why they do it, I’m more than willing for someone to look inside my bag if it guarantees the venue remains safe. It just generally felt a lot more strict than other ATG venues, but remembering what has happened in the past I can understand why. That's the nub of the matter - I would have no problems with bag checks if they ensured that the venue remained safe. But in my experience checks are perfunctory, and if anyone wanted to smuggle in dangerous items they can still do so in coats, trouser pockets, or elsewhere. I suspect it's an insurance requirement - although that doesn't explain why some venues such as the National Theatre don't carry out checks at all! It's more a preventative method than about being meticulous. Having a security presence, dutifully inspecting elements of personal items at every entrance will put off anyone with malicious intent. Also most theatre foyers are small and cramped, usually full of people not sure where they're are going, dallying or waiting for someone else. Having security checks at the doors controls the ingress speed, preventing a crush of people in a small area. Again, making the space secure and safe for you.
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Post by d'James on May 10, 2019 10:29:23 GMT
That's the nub of the matter - I would have no problems with bag checks if they ensured that the venue remained safe. But in my experience checks are perfunctory, and if anyone wanted to smuggle in dangerous items they can still do so in coats, trouser pockets, or elsewhere. I suspect it's an insurance requirement - although that doesn't explain why some venues such as the National Theatre don't carry out checks at all! It's more a preventative method than about being meticulous. Having a security presence, dutifully inspecting elements of personal items at every entrance will put off anyone with malicious intent. I hope you’re right, but I’m not convinced. ‘I’m sorry madam, but you are not allowed to bring AK47s into this Theatre. If you refuse to comply I will flash my torch in your eye.’
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