Sunday, September 18, 2011
On Theatre: No one should take opinion as gospel, not even our critic’s
National Post: Soulpepper’s production of Arthur Miller’s The Price received a standing ovation on its first night. These days that isn’t such a rarity, anywhere you go. But the cheers and claps on this occasion were unusually prolonged, to the point that they took the cast and stage management by surprise; the actors staggered on for their last call with the house lights up, and looking uncertain whether to stay or go. The audience, of course, lapped up the confusion, laughed in delighted sympathy and clapped all the harder.
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I think this article speaks a lot of truth. I have also noticed in the last several years that standing ovations have increased. I very rarely stand for a show. I like to reserve it for something that really moves me. However the amount of ugly looks I get when I don't stand for something are astronomical. i think this audience dynamic is interesting. Audience members shouldn't be affronted because I may not have had the same response to a performance that they have. Yet people are. Just because I don't agree with you doesn't have to be a bad thing. Maybe it is instead a way to open a dialogue about our shared experience.
I agree with Devorah and too find it very frustrating when fellow audience members shoot me the stank eye when I don't join in on the standing ovation. Yes, every performance deserve a congratulations for their hard work and dedication but audience members are not paying $200 a seat to watch people work hard. Sadly, art is subjective and one person's reaction to a show may be much different than another's. Therefore, why are we pressured to give a standing ovation? Is it because the person next to us was in tears the entire third act and leapt from their seat, hands glued together, the second the lights went out? Is it because we want to award the performers and production team the honor or working hard? Or is because it is the "norm" or expected tradition of seeing a performance? And for any of the questions, I can't help but ask, "Why?" Why do we have to subject ourselves to the judgement of others when it comes to theatre, something that is so subjective in meaning and morals.
I agree with both Devorah and Medeline. I think many audiences of theatre now feel the "need" to give the actors a standing ovation. There is absolutely nothing wrong with a standing ovation if you truthfully think the show deserves it. However, most of the time, I find that it is one person starting the standing ovation, and then it radiates outward, as if there is pressure to stand up if the person next to you does it. Everyone is entitled to their own opinion, audience members and critics alike, and in fact, everyone is SUPPOSED to have their own opinion. That's what theatre is about. It affects and moves people in different ways. It's supposed to make you think, and no one thinks in exactly the same way.
I agree with the previous posts. Standing ovations are losing significance. I've begun to completely disregard them. They are no longer true reflections of the audience's reaction to a show and are starting to not mean much at all. It's now just an automatic, mindless action. Whether audience members stand or not says more about their response to the rest of the audience than it does about their response to the show itself.
I think what a lot of the other people have said so far about audience response, and that often other audience members try to pressure you to join a standing ovation if they are standing as well. I also enjoyed reading the author's comments on the influence that critics have upon a play and how goes and sees it, and while critics do have some influence, there are enough different opinions that it allows the readers to get a taste of the play and make their own informed opinion about going to see it. As the author notes, the critics have some pull, but it's more the direct response of the audience members that has more influence on a play than anything else
I love when people give bad reviews. Firstly, if I generally agree with the reviewer, it allows me to avoid bad art. Secondly if I liked something and someone else doesn't then actually think more about what I saw. With TV and the internet becoming more prevalent in our lives we become very passive audiences. We watch and absorb but don't necessarily think. Maybe this is a snobby theater person thing but I like other people very rarely participate in standing ovations. I think that also with raising prices for theater people really want to like the show that they are going to because it means that their money was not spent badly.
Yes! I whole-heartedly agree with this article. Just because someone else doesn't like something doesn't mean "that's the way it is". Opinions are subjective. As with any issue, there are people who agree with it, and those who don't. Hearing that something is good or bad doesn't always make you feel strongly one way or the other. It's just opinion. We need to see something for ourselves to determine whether we think it's good or bad.
This critic's point is really important. Often when people have passionate reactions to something--negative or positive--they believe that their interpretation is the correct one and are surprised and even offended when others do not share their point of view. Theater is a form of art, and art is subjective; there are no "correct" ways to respond to it. People's reactions to theater depend on their own personal set of beliefs and life experiences, not simply whether or not they have good taste.
We take what critics say so seriously. Even if the review is not about a show we worked on, it heavily influences whether we decide to see something or not. But why? As the article shows not all critics have the same opinion and we should be allowed to form our own. When everyone else stands, I know I always feel like I should also stand up, but my mom on the other hand is the complete opposite. She never stands at shows unless she absolutely loved it. It's weird that we feel the need to give standing ovations. Aren't actors coddled enough?
First, reacting to the standing ovation topic, when I am at a show and the entire audience stands, I normally stand as well. This is not because it is always a show that I believe was spectacular, but because I simply cannot see what is going on onstage anymore! I wonder how many others stand for this reason, not because of the caliber of the work.
Second, I hardly ever look at critics ratings or reviews before going to see a show. I think that it slants your view and if you are going to see a one star play, you are going to have a one star experience regardless of the quality of the work.
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