AMERICAN THEATRE: In a recent article for American Theatre, dramaturg Jenna Clark Embrey asks, “Why are talkbacks so disliked among those of us within the industry? It’s not a stretch to see why: Talkbacks are a demand on our time and spirit, they give space for rude and harmful comments from audience members, and they ask that we distill a nuanced and sprawling artistic process down into 20-minute chats. It’s a fair question to ask, then: Why do we keep doing them?”
5 comments:
I never knew that talkbacks were even such a debate within the theatre community, I thought overall that they were seen in a positive light. The point that the cast and crew are tired after a show and talkback can also be additionally draining is a very valid point. But if the theatre makers involved in the show seem passionate to share more with their audience a well moderated talkback seems appropriate. Especially if it's in an educational setting a talkback can be very rewarding to both parties, the audience and the makers of the show. In addition I really enjoyed the first response, and that the person they talked about viewed theatre as a gift to the audience. I think that is such a beautiful and rewarding way to see theatre and through that lense talkbacks become vital. Personally as an artist, I could talk about my art forever if you give me the chance, but even in just a 20 minute talkback there is something to be gained.
I HATED talkbacks in high school. Usually our fall play director would use them to brag and force us to sit there and wait for questions from a group of five parents who were just happy to be there. No one wanted to stay and talk over the piece because we were tired high school students and no one in the audience ever said anything but the same three questions: “was it hard?”, “was it fun?”, and “what does your character mean?”. The crew was also forced to stay and sit there while not receiving any questions. All of this to say, I really resonate with Emberly’s critiques. That being said, I don’t think I’ve ever had a good talk back. Perloff explained Olympia’s talk back style and I was floored! I’ve never been to or seen a call back where the audience was asked questions and put into an active conversation with each other and the creatives behind the work. All the talk backs I’ve been to have just been Q&A sessions where the audience doesn’t know what to ask and the artists are too tired to give good answers. I hope to go to a good talk back one day!
Does this feel like comment-ception to anyone else? Like, we’re commenting on other peoples comments about an article where she’s making commentary on audiences comments/questions/concerns about shows No? If nothing, talkbacks are for technicians to clock the hours and get paid. Yeah, I’d rather be home, but you can pay me to stand around backstage for like twenty minutes too. I’ll clock it as a full hour. I always thought it was for clarification or burning questions at the end of shows like, did Orpheus turn around??? or what did you want to imply when it faded to black??? I get that talkbacks aren’t for everyone and believe me as someone who just wants to get the job done and get out I hate them as much as the next person. So I’d like to offer a solution. Just get rid of them. And have some like marketing people put together a Q&A with like questions to the cast or creative team and push it out as publicity and engagement in the community. You could even warn people there are spoilers about the show. Drive up clicks on the internet about the company/organization and no one is the wiser. But also be open to criticism because like, if someone has a complaint, they’ll let it be known to whoever they can. Just some food for thought, this is probably a bad idea anyway.
I think this article proposed some interesting things for thought. Are talkbacks worth the time of the cast, crew, director, audience? I think the answer isn’t strictly yes or no here. As we can see in this article, there are a lot of wide opinions on the matter, and that doesn’t mean any of them are wrong in any way. I think a talkback that is well guided and invites audience opinions and thoughts could be really interesting for everyone involved. I think that should be a decision made by those who would attend from the cast/directorial side: do they feel that they have the energy after a show run to discuss their work with people who have spent maybe 2 hours with the show (versus their months/years of work)? Maybe, that answer is no. And that is ok. Maybe, that answer is yes. Again, also ok. I think this can be a broader discussion in the future, it was interesting to hear others thoughts on the matter (I confess I hadn’t really thought much about tackbacks ever).
Talkbacks are a huge part of why I don't want to be a stage manager or actually work during the shows, For me it is super demoralizing having a show that you care about and spend weeks upon weeks with that you start to care about. And then having a whole bunch of questions asked by high schoolers or college students that shows that, not only did they not seem to understand what they just saw, but that they really didn't care in the first place.
I agree with the notion that they should just be done away with altogether. I don't believe that they serve a real purpose of talkbacks or the person Elyse Knight who is everything wrong with the industry. Actors want to go home after a show. They don't owe the audience a talkback. The audience bought a ticket to see a show, once they have seen that show it's time for them to go home and not expect some stupid mass interview.
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