In Support Of Conversations Between Theatres and Audiences

To the idea of better moderated talk-back:

I recently lived in Chicago where the experimental dance and theatre scene enjoy a particularly insular yet productive role. As a result, a lot of post-show discussions involve some sort of experiment in how to better moderate the discussions. I have seen some very very good attempts at steering the audience into the realm of productive conversations, and some very very mindless audiences who cannot help but ramble on about themselves, or like/dislike, or something equally as boring/painful.

I say bravo to the attempts, but I guess we must keep trying as the audience is educated in how to participate in these forums. Or not. I always enjoy my private post-show discussions with friends over food or drinks. I have never enjoyed a post-show talk! :)

To the original point in this article:

I think that professional feedback, or feedback like the "shoes" story is essential. I think it is sad that we have all gotten too touchy to share/receive such information! It is definitely (in my estimation) a gift to share in this way. Definitely yes - Bring on the rotting veggies/standing ovations, etc.

Thanks Kent for your insights. I think we're making some progress here. The general consensus seems to be that we need to find another framework for the typical-post show discussion. The question is, do we do away with post-show discussions altogether and find different ways of communicating with audiences? Or is there some way of educating audiences to share comments that aren't sycophantic twaddle along the "I just wanna say how much I love you guys" lines but actually insightful? I wander what would happen if a moderator actually laid down some groundrules for discussion upfront? Or would that be too Nazi-like? For example, could a moderator say something like "Please don't just tell us whether you liked or didn't like something you experienced on stage, but WHY you responded in this way." Then it would be up to the company to provide the audience member who expressed an opinion with context for a decision where necessary.

In my experience, audiences have no trouble telling me exactly what they think is wrong with my shows. The theaters' artistic directors get letters and e-mails all the time... and then there are the pesky post-show discussions. I don't think the problem is audiences being afraid of speaking there mind, it's that they often don't have the knowledge or context to do so in a helpful manner. There is an old saying, "individuals are alwys wrong, audiences are always right." Nothing could be more true. The reason Talkbacks don't work is that they are often moderated very poorly. Audiences are only trained to say "liked it," or "I hated it," without the context of why a choice may have been made... or without understanding that there were even choices to be made. Mostly, I think people are trying to be helpful and end up being insulting without realizing... either by being incredibly condescending, or naive.

Mostly I think audience feedback sessions are pretty useless. I don't want writing advice from the audience and more than a heart surgeon wants advice on which scalpal to use from a Candy Striper. What I do want, though, and usually can glean from the way a performance is going, is when people are confused or aren't following a point of logic.

I think it's fair game to drop a note about something technical that is confusing. (Rather than say something is wrong, better to say something like, "I was confused by the shoes," and let the staff figure out for themselves if something is wrong.) Dramaturigcal issues? Not unless requested. As someone once said (maybe Robert Anderson), the three great human drives are to eat, make love and rewrite someone else's play.

That's a great story. Thanks for sharing it. I imagine there are some people who might read your anecdote and say, 'Wow, fancy getting all wound up about some shoes. Talk about obsessing with details rather than seeing the whole picture!' But the fact is that those shoes bothered you immensely and detracted from your enjoyment of the production. And interestingly enough, someone you spoke from the production team either acted on your wishes directly or at least shared your feelings, as the shoe situation changed by the time the show hit Broadway. So my feeling is this: a play's creators have the entire play development process to be insular about what they are doing and focus on their process. Once a play is up there in front of an audience, it's fair game for feedback. So I say bravo for making your point about the shoes and I'm only sorry that the director and designer weren't gracious enough to make you feel like your comments were welcome. I think theatremakers should be more open once their plays are up on stage. By that I mean that they should make audience members feel less like passive recipients and more like active participants in both the life and afterlife of a performance. One way of doing this is by creating forums for feedback (eg via email or blogs). Obviously, it's up to the director and his/her collaborators whether or not to take the comments on board or ignore them -- but they should never make theatregoers feel like they can't throw in their thoughts, no matter how big or small they might be.

At a preview performance of a Broadway bound show I was persistently bothered by the fact that the actresses playing two mid to upper class women from a small town in NC in the 50's never changed their shoes. They had extravagantly lovely clothing changes - but the same shoes in almost every scene. Having grown up with a mother who went to school in that same small town in the 50's - and who had a closet full of shoes that had been meticulously chosen for every outfit she wore (I can still see the boxes piles high in her closet), I had a strong connection to what the women in the play would most likely be wearing, and I was shocked out of the scene every time those same old shoes appeared on stage. So at intermission I gingerly approached the director and shared my impressions (he had invited the audience to share feedback - which made it much easier to talk to him. Nevertheless, I felt like I was breaking some cardinal rule of theatre etiquette...) He felt inclined to explain... which I didn't want or need... I was just sharing a tiny point of information that I thought might be useful. I nodded and smiled and backed away - hoping to disappear behind the bar. By strange happenstance the costume designer and I were staying at the same hotel. I saw her at breakfast and told her my story. "So, you're the one..." she said, in such a tone that I realized that my one small comment had repercussions far beyond my need to share an observation. The show went on to win a Tony for the costumer - and my friend who saw it on Broadway said that the actresses changed shoes with every outfit. However, I still have the nagging feeling that I put my foot in the middle of a process where it really wasn't welcome.