{"id":93,"date":"2009-04-20T18:57:42","date_gmt":"2009-04-20T18:57:42","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/diacritical\/wp\/2009\/04\/short_attention_span_theatre\/"},"modified":"2009-04-20T18:57:42","modified_gmt":"2009-04-20T18:57:42","slug":"short_attention_span_theatre","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/diacritical\/2009\/04\/short_attention_span_theatre.html","title":{"rendered":"Short Attention Span Theatre"},"content":{"rendered":"

Mark Ravenhill argues that endless choice has shortened our attention spans, to the detriment of all art.<\/a><\/p>\n

Maybe we should blame the invention of the TV remote control: people
\noften do. At some point around 30 years ago, it became possible to hop
\naimlessly between channels. Programme-makers became convinced that they
\nhad to make a pitch for their show in its opening few seconds, and then
\nkeep on pitching just to keep the audience on side. But why has this
\nrequirement to grab, grip, deliver a punch (the language is nearly
\nalways that of physical violence) infected nearly every other medium?
\nAfter all, you’ve already chosen to buy that novel, or theatre ticket;
\nthe chances are you’re going to stick at it even if the story moves
\nslowly, if it rambles or pauses to digress. But more and more, it
\nseems, we treat every audience as though they carry a phantom remote
\ncontrol. We are terrified of losing them.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Mark Ravenhill argues that endless choice has shortened our attention spans, to the detriment of all art. Maybe we should blame the invention of the TV remote control: people often do. At some point around 30 years ago, it became possible to hop aimlessly between channels. Programme-makers became convinced that they had to make a […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","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":"","advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-93","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-uncategorized","7":"entry"},"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p4ePZm-1v","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":357,"url":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/diacritical\/2009\/07\/attention-2.html","url_meta":{"origin":93,"position":0},"title":"Pay Attention! If Selling Tickets Is Your Business Model, You've Got A Problem","author":"Douglas McLennan","date":"July 13, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"Another lifetime ago we were in the Manufacturing Economy. We made things. Then we were in the Transportation Economy. We outsourced making things and brought whatever we needed to us. Then it was the Experience Economy. We created entertainment around the things we buy (how we justify paying $4.50 for\u2026","rel":"","context":"With 12 comments","block_context":{"text":"With 12 comments","link":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/diacritical\/2009\/07\/attention-2.html#comments"},"img":{"alt_text":"supermarket seizure.jpg","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/diacritical\/supermarket%20seizure.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":535,"url":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/diacritical\/2014\/01\/welcoming-a-new-aj-blogger-whose-art-is-the-audience.html","url_meta":{"origin":93,"position":1},"title":"Welcoming A New AJ Blogger: Art of the audience","author":"Douglas McLennan","date":"January 27, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"I'm very pleased to welcome a new blogger to ArtsJournal today. Lynne Conner will be writing the blog We the Audience, a blog about the relationships between artists and audiences. Lynne is a\u00a0professor in the theatre and dance department at Colby College in Maine, where she directs plays and teaches\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/diacritical\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/01\/conner.jpg?fit=392%2C582&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":627,"url":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/diacritical\/2016\/01\/playing-for-the-screens-is-our-obsession-with-changing-the-live-arts-experience.html","url_meta":{"origin":93,"position":2},"title":"Playing For The Screens – Is Our Obsession With Video Changing The Live Arts Experience?","author":"Douglas McLennan","date":"January 20, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"One weekend last November, the biggest box-office at movie theatres throughout the UK wasn't for the latest Hollywood blockbuster (the latest \"Hunger Games\" movie opened that Friday). 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