Theatre Development Fund – TDF: I'm a dramaturg. That term means different things depending upon whom you ask. But in my case, it often means I'm the lucky theatre staffer tasked with moderating the post-show Q&A between the artists and the audience, commonly known as the talkback. And, I must confess, most of the time, I loathe it. Whenever you give the audience a microphone, it's inevitable that someone will (usually unwittingly) upset the theatre-makers.
7 comments:
Talkbacks are often overlooked because they can appear as an afterthought. However, this article made me think about how they could be adequately planned, just as a rehearsal would be. With some preparation, the dramaturg, or whoever is leading the discussion, could guide the questions from the audience. This could prevent bland or possibly offensive questions from being asked and could lead to a more insightful discussion. For example, the dramaturg could guide the audience to ask design questions as well, rather than just probing the actors on how they learned their lines. The author of the article also mentions that theatres are not making an attempt to further engage audiences in the theatrical process. I believe that showing audience members a closer look as to how the production was created will make them more engaged in the art form. This could encourage a wider range of audiences to learn about and become regular theatre patrons.
I think this is a great article, gives insights that can really be beneficial. Even here at school, where the creative team and cast post show will do a talk back with the freshmen for class, it can sometimes be a struggle to really get the dialogue going. I wish the author was able to go more into detail about how she is able, or hopes to be able to really engage the audience in meaningful discussions. I enjoy going to talk backs because I like to hear from the designers, but I know I am someone who will rarely ask a question, I just want to here them talk about their choices and how they played out, not a specific thing. I do also think that while a dramaturg can prepare and have the best team ready to talk about their art, if the audience doesn't want to hear about it, and does just want to hear about the actor's memorizing lines, there is not much you can do.
I have yet to go to a talk back, although I have attended presentations led by dramaturgs before a show begins, specifically for operas. Talk backs are risky! There is a reason the creative team isn't brought into Conservatory Hour anymore; it is hard to speak your mind when you may hurt a designer's feelings. The author of this article notes that dramaturgs actually often slack on planning these meetings, which is why they so often go sour. It is up to the dramaturg to guide an audience into a meaningful conversation. One way that other theaters are doing it is to split audience members up into small groups and encourage them to talk about how they connected to the play. If I were to lead a talk back, I would maybe tell the audience some of the philosophical questions that guided the production, and then ask how they felt the production answered those questions. This keeps the conversation on a meaningful topic and hopefully gives the audience the background they need to understand what kinds of questions are best for the situation
In my lifetime I have sat through many talkbacks, some amazing and educational while others were sallow and painful. when it comes down to it, a good talkback really does depend on the level of preparation that moderator has put into the programming. I enjoyed how this article pointed out that we all say we make this theater for the community but when it is time to listen to what that community actually thought, we don't listen. That could be because of the many back talkbacks we have experienced, but when you think about it talkbacks are a fairly new trend that we can really learn something from if we prepare and actually try. I like the simple question that the article poses about why the audience member decided to come see the show. There are so many factors including marketing and content that get an audience member in the seat and what better time to ask the audience member the tough questions than at a talkback.
In my experience in theater, talkbacks have always been an after thought and they have mostly been redundant and boring. I actually have not experienced a talkback that is stimulating and as enjoyable as the play itself. This causes me to think that if the idea of theater is to create conversations, why are we not having meaningful conversations right there and then. Why do we think that the conversations are being had at home because we are not there to confirm that they are being had. There are a couple of things that struck me in this article, but the one that caught my attention the most is "What if, instead of treating the talkback as a chore, we embraced it as an opportunity to put democratic thought into action? What might happen if theatre institutions started to view the talkback as essential to the experience of a play?" . I believe it would be very beneficial to both the audience and the artists (not just the actors but the whole creative team) and it puts a different spin on the experience people take from the play. I find the idea of getting the audience a little tipsy funny but it would be interesting to see how different theaters handle and facilitate talkbacks.
Honestly, as a stage manager, talkbacks have never been something I have looked forward to. They are often poorly planned, and add more work to the crew schedule. The article challenged my option however, and the push to ""make our talkbacks exhilarating. By honestly sharing and examining our different points of view, we exercise our right to regard one another as equals,"" really gave me a different prospective. I do like the author's community based approach to fixing the dreaded talkback problem. "It takes remarkable skill to gracefully guide a roomful of strangers toward some semblance of a meaningful conversation. Sometimes it's damn near impossible. But I'm done sounding like playwright David Mamet, who despises talkbacks so much he prohibits them after his shows. I'm calling on all audiences, artists and administrators everywhere: reclaim the talkback with me!" When you put it that way, it really is a difficult task that we ask our moderators to do, and if I as a stage manager/production manager, can do anything to make this process easier in the future, I certainly will. I also thing that it is effective that the author turns to us, the readers, for suggestions and ideas for improvement. The article ends with the question--"What else? If there were no rules, what would you do to make talkbacks awesome," which I think in the interest of community, is a good place to both end and begin.
As the product of a high school that thought talkbacks were the solution to everything, I’ve learned talkbacks can be a useful tool in a multitude of situations. The most commonly used style talkback by my school was to engage the audience to interact with any difficult or controversial material we put onstage. We used this time to let the students working on the show explain how the process changes their view about the topic at hand. To me it separated the actor from the horrific actions or words they may have said onstage. The audience had a chance to see how playing that character affected them. In our production of Clybourne Park we talked about how racism affected our middle class, majority white suburban city. After Assassins we talked about gun violence and how the student directors changed the blocking throughout so that they were no longer pointing realistic weapons at the audience. We also discussed how the actors were able to “empathise but not justify” their characters ill intentioned actions. Another aspect present at every talkback was the adult supervisor of the program ready to step in if audience concerns were not appropriate, but also to support asking questions about tech or other important decisions (although 9 times out of 10 it wasn’t needed). We were also able to talk about how our show would result in action around our community. What was key to every talkback was student preparation, we knew we would be engaging with the audience from day one, we knew we would be talking about difficult topics, through staff assisted discussions we were able to prepare thoroughly. These actions were a useful tool enabling student to engage with theatre that would otherwise be deemed unfit for the community audience.
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