Introduction to Theatre -- The Audience in the Theatre

Introduction to Theatre Online Course

Dr. Eric W. Trumbull, Professor, Theatre/Speech

This page last modified: November 16, 2007

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The Audience and the Theatre

Resource: Wilson/Goldfarb, Chapter 1

Objectives for this lesson:

Students will examine:

characteristics of audiences

types of audiences

how and in what ways audiences respond to theatre

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The audience is most important -- a group of individuals gathered together at a certain time and place for no purpose other than to see the performance (though some may be doing other things: placing bets, writing reviews, wasting time, etc.), that is aware of itself as a group (this definition comes from Cameron/Gillsepie -- and most of the rest of the ideas on this page also belong to them).

Audience for theatre performance has artistic self-awareness.

Audience for sports (spectators) -- competition -- outcome not pre-determined (as it is with most theatre--though some plays have varied outcomes (Night of January 16 and The Mystery of Edwin Drood).

The audience gives its "permission" to the art.

A social phenomenon --

"conventions" -- "agreements" about what audiences will accept -- how "story" will be told.

Different permissions given at different times.

A "contract" to pretend to see what is not seen--different locales, etc.

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Audiences differ in their:

group self-image
sanctity of time and place (how, for instance, do we behave as audience members in a theatre?)
preparation for the event (understanding and sympathy),
interaction with each other and with the performance
can actively prepare and be willing to use imagination and remain open

Audiences respond to theatre:

our preparation and the conditions or the theatre (physical, social, cultural) help determine our response.

Audiences can respond to theatre with

imagination stirred

making familiar revelations through compressed, focused, magical life

making exotic a revelation

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How does theatre appeal to audiences?

1. Sensory stimulation (light and sound):

Bentley -- eros -- the live performer a powerful appeal to our senses.

See W/G, 21, for excerpt from theatre critic Walter Kerr -- ("We are contenders, making the play and the evening and the emotion together. We are playmates, building a structure.")

theatron -- seeing place -- Greek

auditorium -- hearing place -- Roman

drama comes from the Greek verb "dran" -- to do or to act = action

vision most powerful

sound another strong sense

2. Human values -- story and character inherent in the text of any play.

a. Stories are compelling -- a framework for other values. Response comes from suspense, surprise, revelations, unfolding of events, reversals (peripitea), discoveries. Audience can anticipate if prepared for.

b. Character -- the representation of a human being in a theatrical performance (or in the literary work) -- as much as the audience needs to know....

We identify -- that character is like me.
Subconscious references (like nightmares).
Association -- historical people, people from our pasts.

3. Artistic excellence. What potentials are fulfilled in production?

4. Intellectual value. The idea, or theme ("the me") usually takes care of itself, if presented well -- becomes more acute over time.

Performance values must succeed to communicate idea.

All four of these work together... reading a play is only part of its potential.

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Audience sees:

innovation
style
historical period
level of abstraction
social class
given circumstances

A danger:

The "Affective fallacy" -- responding to our own perceptions only (For instance, someone undergoing a divorce / separation might react to Kramer versus Kramer in a different way from someone else; similarly, one who has had the experience of suicide in their lives might react quite differently to Ordinary People than someone else).

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