Audience

That's right. This is a post about the audience. Why? Because it's about time that audiences learned a few things. Some audience members already know. If that's you skip this post or consider it a refresher course.

Theatre thrives on the audience. It's the lifeblood of a performance. Honestly, without an audience it is just another rehearsal. And while rehearsals can be a blast (with the right people) performers need people to perform for. So, here is the first point: Yes, you need to come see this show! Is the audience big enough? Absolutely not. How do I know? If the show isn't sold out then there aren't enough people in the audience. That's from me as a performer. I'm not making money off of ticket sales. I have no financial stake in filling seats. I want seats filled because having an audience is important, and every single person in the audience matters!

Of course, size doesn't really matter; quality does. Insert your own jokes here. I have performed for audiences of varying sizes. The smallest, to my memory, was an audience of six. That's right. Six. I am sure I have friends who have performed for fewer. I have also performed in theatres filled to capacity (200+). I'll tell you, those weren't always the best audiences. Some of the smallest audience were so much better than their larger counterparts. However, as a general rule I will take a large audience over a small one any day. The odds of having a quality audience increase. I'll get to that in a moment. So...

What Makes a Good Audience?

Responsiveness. That's it. For me, that's pretty much the end all be all. There are other important factors, but it's the most vital parts of being a good audience. Be responsive to what is happening on stage. When I did improv comedy we would spend the first five minutes of every show teaching the audience how to be responsive. We warmed them up. That's how important is. We spent the first 5% of the show prepping the audience to make them more responsive. It helped that it was fun for everyone. Warming up the audience involved having them practice giving suggestions when we asked for them, encouraging them to be louder, to shout out without raising the hand, and then to be quiet again when something was happening on stage. The last part is important because you can be too responsive. We would get the audience excited by playing games. Sometimes the audience would become a barnyard orchestra. Or jungle. Or other animal ecosystem. Other times we would turn the audience into an auditory rainstorm. Occasionally, we would make them ride an invisible roller coaster. Our favorite conclusion to the warm-up was a countdown (or sometimes a count up) where we would ask the audience to make their applause louder and louder as we moved from 10 (meh) to 1 (on your feet, hands in the air, deafening screams of appreciation).

Why is responsiveness important? Performers are like vampires. We feed on the energy of the audience and use it to improve our performances. Being on stage for two hours is just exhausting. It takes a lot of energy. You can tell when a person is feeling tired. We all recognize the symptoms. It is the same in theatre. Generally you can tell when the actors don't have any energy and it's often not a single actor but the entire cast. The performance suffers. However, when the audience is generating energy the performers can feed off of that and keep the show high energy. Without it the entire process becomes a chore. Sure, the actors can create their own energy (the best actors keep their energy high regardless of the audience), but it makes things more difficult. And actors recognize it. We know when our energy is down. We know when we need to raise the energy. Having a good audience helps. Good audiences lead to better performances.

One of the problems in scripted theatre is the audience rarely has a chance to be instructed on expectations for their behavior. I'm talking about more than etiquette, though I'll brush on etiquette in a moment. How do you teach an audience to respond appropriately at a scripted event? First, do what you can. Second, hope the audiences does the rest.

We can help the audience be more responsive by how we stage productions. That's probably a college level course right there, and no , I'm not qualified to teach it. Let me give you one example: giving the audience permission to laugh. Many shows, even non-comedies, have comedic moments in them. This helps to break tension and give the audience a diverse emotional experience. It's difficult to maintain the same emotional level for long periods of time. People get exhausted. If you want your drama to be more dramatic add some comedy. Well-timed comedy breaks the audience's tension, gives them some relief, and then allows them to return to the serious mood and sustain it longer. However, this only works if your audience is willing to laugh. If the tone is so serious that they don't dare laugh, even at an obvious joke, then your production will soon start to drag. To avoid this it's nice to have a comedic moment before the audience gets stuck in a serious mind frame. Not so soon that they think they're in a comedy (unless they are), but early. First scene. If it's played appropriately the audience knows they are supposed to laugh. When they have this permission every other emotion comes easier. The audience will be more responsive, the production will improve.

One of the things that gets talked about backstage is key members in the audience. There are a few known audience members who laugh easily and loudly. They help encourage the audience to respond as well. Being one of these people, if the audience needs it, is highly appreciated. They lift the actors spirits and give them something to look forward to when they are on stage. That's why a bigger audience can be better. Increased odds of having this person in the group. The downside though is group think. An audience members wants to laugh, but they don't because no one else is laughing? Why is no one else in the audience laughing? They don't want to be the first. They're not laughing, because no one else is laughing. Vicious cycle.

What if comedy is inappropriate to the show entirely? How does the audience become responsive then? That's a harder question and I don't have a great answer. Part of it will be body language. The actors can see you (mostly) and we do know when you are engaged. We see more than you think. Other times, appropriate vocal cues help us know you are involved. For example, in one of my favorite moments I was being escorted off stage by two other characters (both who will be in the 24-Hour Theatre project!). I don't know exactly how we goofed, but as we rounded the corner instead of walking back and off-stage I walked face first into the proscenium. Hard. Then I was dragged the rest of the way off-stage. When I got off-stage I started laughing (as quietly as possible). I found it hilarious and while a bit dazed, I was unharmed. The great thing was, the audience response told us that they had seen it. They oohed in a "that had to hurt" fashion. That involvement made it great! I was excited to get back on stage. It wasn't an intended comedic moment, and the audience responded appropriately. Thrills!

Either way. Find a way to let the actors know you're involved. Let them know you're invested. This is part two. The audience doing the rest. Things that will help you: know what you're getting into before you go see the show. I've done a couple of shows (and seen a couple of shows) that were emotional kicks to the teeth. If you don't know what to expect it's going to be hard to stay engaged. Do your research, if you're going to see a comedy be prepared to laugh. If you're going to a thriller be prepared to be scared, surprised, shocked, tricked, etc. If you're going to a tragedy be prepared to cry. Know that you're going to be hit in the feels and be ready for it. The more you know about the production, the more valuable you are as an audience member. Do your research. That doesn't mean you have to read the show and know all the plot twists. Please don't. But know what to expect content wise. Ask around, someone will be able to help you.

Finally, don't engage inappropriately. In most scripted shows audience participation is not necessary. Yelling comments at the stage, making your own jokes in response to our jokes, and making noises to attract attention to yourself and away from the stage are inappropriate. They don't make you friends of the audience or the performers. Theatre has etiquette and if you can't maintain that etiquette maybe it's not your venue.

So, share this post. Share the 24-Hour Theatre Event (and other local theatre happenings). Come fill the Orpheum Theatre. You don't get an opportunity for these kind of locally grown theatre events very often. Who knows? You might see the beginning of the next Pulitzer Prize winning drama. There's a chance you will see a beautifully crafted piece of theatre that will never be performed again. But we need an audience to make it magical. Be in that audience. Thank you!

Here's a link to some Broadway Theatre Etiquette. Yes, I think it applies to local community theatre as well. http://www.nytix.com/Links/Broadway/Articles/etiquette.html