Monday, April 11, 2011
Area theaters share the stage with audience members
MiamiHerald.com: "The audience is becoming part of the show with bit parts, extra work and even lines. Directors say audience interactivity attracts more people, particularly younger viewers, to the theater.
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3 comments:
I see two separate ideas in this story - audience interaction in children's theatre is almost a given, and has a very distinct purpose - investing children in the production and in storytelling. Audience participation in adult shows require a lot of preparation and, as the article comments, for the play to be specifically written with the audience's interaction in mind. Productions like casting audience members as fighters in Don Giovanni worries me, especially in intensive situations like executing fight choreography that has the potential to damage the production (or other people) if it goes wrong. At this point, are they still audience members after going in for rehearsal and doing real performance on stage? Spelling Bee strikes a nice balance by giving audience members an experience of going in blind, having lines, and still dancing, but with explicit guidance from the rehearsed cast.
I think that any way that a show can make the experience more personal for its audience, especially by involving members directly, will only enhance an audience member's experience. Some of my favorite memories from shows stem from specific interactions I may have had during the show with the performers in shows that break down the fourth wall. Audience members then also become another lane for word-of-mouth advertisement, since the more excited they are about the show they just experienced, and how personal their experience was, the more likely they are to recommend the show to others, so they too can have unique responses to the show based on the performers' interaction with them.
I'm really wary about audience participation in theatre. If it's done well, it can make the experience amazing. But in my opinion, more often than not, it does not reach that level. It can turn out really corny by breaking the fourth wall and adding audience members into your show. And as Brian said, at what point do they turn from audience members into actors? If they have scripts, go to rehearsals, and perform onstage, what does that sound like? Also, as the author says, "Forget reality TV, welcome to the new reality theater". I for one, do not like reality TV, and do not want theatre to move in the same direction.
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