Audience as Performer: The changing role of theatre audiences in the twenty-first century

Description

'Actors always talk about what the audience does. I don’t understand, we are just sitting here.' Audience as Performer proposes that in the theatre, there are two troupes of performers: the actors and the audience. Although academics have scrutinised how audiences respond, make meaning and co-create while watching a performance, little research has considered the behaviour of the theatre audience as a performance in and of itself. This insightful book describes how an audience performs through its myriad gestural, vocal and paralingual actions, and considers the following questions: * If the audience are performers, who are their audiences? * How have audiences’ roles changed throughout history? * How do talkbacks and technology influence the audience’s role as critics? * What influence does the audience have on the creation of community in theatre? * How can the audience function as both consumer and co-creator? Drawing from over 140 interviews with audience members, actors and ushers in the UK, USA and Austrialia, Heim reveals the lived experience of audience members at the theatrical event. It is a fresh reading of mainstream audiences’ activities, bringing their voices to the fore and exploring their emerging new roles in the theatre of the Twenty-First Century. Cover ......Page 1 Half Title ......Page 2 Title Page ......Page 4 Copyright Page ......Page 5 Dedication ......Page 6 Table of Contents ......Page 8 Acknowledgements ......Page 10 Introduction ......Page 12 Do Audiences Perform?......Page 13 Performer, Performance, Audience......Page 15 Writings About Audiences......Page 17 Listening to the Audience......Page 18 Mainstream Theatre......Page 21 Book Structure......Page 22 Notes......Page 25 References......Page 26 Part I: Audience Performance ......Page 28 1. Audience as Performer ......Page 30 From Empathy to Performance......Page 31 The Audience’s Audience......Page 33 The Audience’s Role......Page 35 The Audience’s Costume......Page 36 The Performance......Page 38 Laughter......Page 40 Crying......Page 41 Applauding......Page 42 Listening......Page 43 The Shuffle and the Fidget......Page 44 The Walk-out......Page 45 Restraints......Page 47 Notes......Page 50 References......Page 51 2. Stage Etiquette (1800–1880) ......Page 54 Historical Considerations......Page 55 Stage Etiquette......Page 57 The Audience’s Audience......Page 59 Followers......Page 60 Audience Performing Styles......Page 61 Audience Costume......Page 62 The Audience Set and Lighting......Page 63 Laughter and Crying......Page 64 Applause......Page 65 Stamps, Cheers, Thumps, Roars, Catcalls and Waves......Page 66 Dialogue and Singing......Page 67 Eating, Chewing, Spitting and Smoking......Page 69 Pre and Post-performance Discussions ......Page 70 Audience Text......Page 71 Notes......Page 72 References......Page 73 3. Theatre Etiquette (1880–2000) ......Page 75 From the Limelight into the Shadows......Page 76 Theatre Etiquette......Page 77 The Galleryites......Page 81 The Fashionables......Page 82 The Matinee Girl, the Stage-Door Johnny and the Tired Business Man......Page 83 Guest Performers......Page 85 Props: The Hat......Page 86 The Auditorium Fades to Black......Page 87 Musical Audiences from the 1980s......Page 91 Notes......Page 92 References......Page 93 Part II: Contemporary Audience Performance ......Page 96 Introduction to Part II ......Page 97 References......Page 98 4. Audience as Critic ......Page 100 The Discussion......Page 101 The Post-show Discussion......Page 104 The Pleasure of Performing Critic......Page 108 The Role of the Audience Critic in Previews......Page 110 Digitising Critical Responses......Page 111 Case Study Steppenwolf Theatre Company: Playing Critic in the Public Square......Page 115 Steppenwolf Critics Live......Page 116 Steppenwolf Critics Online......Page 117 Notes......Page 118 References......Page 119 5. Audience as Community ......Page 122 Community Houses......Page 123 The House......Page 124 Socialising in the House......Page 125 Interior Decorating......Page 127 Share Houses......Page 130 New Houses......Page 131 Case Study Signature Theatre Company: Building Communities......Page 134 References......Page 137 6. Audience as Consumer ......Page 139 Esteem......Page 141 The Tourist Audience......Page 142 The Pleasure of Purchasing......Page 143 Ownership......Page 145 Audience as Guest at the Theatrical Experience......Page 146 Consuming the Right to Perform......Page 148 Case Study Times Square: Self-Conscious Performance......Page 150 Notes......Page 153 References......Page 154 7. Audience as Co-creator ......Page 156 The Electric Air......Page 157 Audience as Co-creator......Page 158 Reciprocity......Page 160 Leading and Following......Page 162 Breathe as One......Page 164 Twenty-First-Century Audience Co-creation......Page 165 Youth Theatre......Page 167 Immersive Theatre......Page 168 Communal Theatre......Page 170 One-Person Show......Page 171 The Soliloquy......Page 172 Creating a Scene......Page 173 Case Study Shakespeare’s Globe: Extending the Invitation......Page 175 Notes......Page 178 References......Page 180 Conclusion: New Possibilities ......Page 182 Everything Old is New Again......Page 183 Emerging Questions......Page 185 New Possibilities......Page 186 References......Page 187 Audience Members......Page 188 Actors......Page 190 Directors/Producers/Other Theatre Professionals......Page 191 Appendix 1: Audience Interviews ......Page 192 Appendix 2: Questionnaire ......Page 196 Index ......Page 198