{"id":1413,"date":"2010-04-19T11:31:51","date_gmt":"2010-04-19T18:31:51","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/artfulmanager\/wp\/2010\/04\/retaining_the_illusion_of_full\/"},"modified":"2010-04-19T11:31:51","modified_gmt":"2010-04-19T18:31:51","slug":"retaining_the_illusion_of_full","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/artfulmanager\/main\/retaining_the_illusion_of_full.php","title":{"rendered":"Retaining the illusion of full audience attention"},"content":{"rendered":"

Interesting news that the West Yorkshire Playhouse decided NOT to allow tweeting<\/a> or other mobile media use by their audiences, after some internal and external debate. There’s not much detail on the reasons for the decision in the article, but negative feedback from the universe and artistic concerns for the actors seemed to play a role. Said artistic director Ian Brown:<\/p>\n

”People who think tweeting during performances [is a good idea] have to
\nbe prepared to tell the actors that is what will be happening. I shall
\nbe hiding.”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

But, assuming we can eliminate the distraction to actors and other audience members (Tweet Seats would be assigned in the back row, or otherwise out of sightlines), does tweeting REALLY mean you’re not paying attention?<\/p>\n

Ruth Jamieson in the Guardian explores both sides of the questions in her theater tweet etiquette piece<\/a>. Says she:<\/p>\n

…anyone who has ever kept a diary will know that to write about an
\nexperience is to focus totally on it. Tweeting at the theatre will
\nincrease your concentration and improve your experience…. As long as you don’t disturb those around you, and certainly not the
\ncast, you have a responsibility to do so. You improve your experience
\nand share it with people who might otherwise not experience the theatre — albeit via a screen, a phone and you.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Of course, you can’t guarantee<\/i> that those using their mobile devices are actually discussing the theater experience with their friends. They could just as easily be texting about drinks later, or browsing the web for other ways to spend Act II. But who among us claims full attention, all the time, during a live experience? Our minds wander, they fade in and out of direct focus, and, in fact, this is often how a live experience grabs us in unexpected ways.<\/p>\n

I wonder if theaters opposed to tweeters are also opposed to audience members taking notes, writing in diaries, or sketching during a performance. To what extent is sitting quietly, facing forward, and feigning full attention also just an act? <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Interesting news that the West Yorkshire Playhouse decided NOT to allow tweeting or other mobile media use by their audiences, after some internal and external debate. There’s not much detail on the reasons for the decision in the article, but negative feedback from the universe and artistic concerns for the actors seemed to play a […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-1413","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-main","7":"entry"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/artfulmanager\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1413","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/artfulmanager\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/artfulmanager\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/artfulmanager\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/artfulmanager\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1413"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/artfulmanager\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1413\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/artfulmanager\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1413"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/artfulmanager\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1413"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/artfulmanager\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1413"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}