2 Background and Expectations of the Audience © T Charles Erickson Copyright © McGraw-Hill Education. All rights reserved. No reproduction or distribution

2Background and

Expectations of the Audience

© T Charles Erickson

Copyright © McGraw-Hill Education. All rights reserved. No reproduction or distribution without the prior written consent of McGraw-Hill Education.

© 2015 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.

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The Audience

• Audience members not only bring their presence to the theatre; they also bring with them personal knowledge and expectations.

• All of these factors shape the experience of each Individual audience member as well as the group as a whole.

© Michal Daniel


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The Background of Individual Spectators

• Individual memories and experience– Childhood memories– Emotional scars– Private fantasies

• Plays set in the present– Audience brings a deep awareness of that world– Audience has a background of common information

and beliefs

• Plays set in other times and places– Audience can relate to characters and emotions


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Background of the Period

• When seeing a play from or about a different period, we must be familiar with the history, culture, psychology, and philosophy of that period.

© Carol Rosegg


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Background of the Period

• Theatre and society are closely connected; art is a mirror of its age. – You can’t understand one without the other.– Art may question or reaffirm, but is linked to

society inextricably. Is art universal? – Each time period has its own conventions:

• Greek theatre and culture• Elizabethan theatre and culture• Modern theatre and culture


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Greek Theatre and Culture

• There was a limited number of scenes in a play.– Usually five scenes interspersed with choral

sections

• The drama took place in one locale and within a short span of time.– Usually in front of a

palace

• Murders, suicides, and other acts of violence occurred offstage.

© Adam Crowley/Getty Images


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Elizabethan Theatre and Culture

• A play could move to a number of locations and cover a period of many years.

• Plays were expansive in terms of the number characters and action.

• There was no hesitancy whatsoever about showing murder and bloodshed.

• Role of Women


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Modern Theatre and Culture

• Today’s theatre reflects:– Developments in communications, global– Cultures, societies brought together, proximity – Human-made and natural disasters

• An inclusive theatre of fragmentation

• A theatre of eclecticism• A global theatre

Sara Krulwich/The New York Times/Redux


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Background Information on the Play or Playwright

• Knowing the period in which the play was written is not enough to have a complete theatre experience.– One must understand the play itself; some plays

(like Shakespeare’s) contain obscure references.

– One must understand the playwright and his orher techniques.

© Manuel Harlan/Royal Shakespeare Company


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Audience Expectations

• Not all theatre experiences are alike.

• Different types of theatres and theatrical events carry with them different sets of expectations.

• Broadway musical?

• A stimulating, challenging, meaningful experience?


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Audience Expectations

• Diversity in the U.S. is reflected in theatre:– Broadway and touring

theatre– Resident professional

theatre/ Regional– Alternative theatre: off-

Broadway and elsewhere– Young people’s and

children’s theatre– College and

university theatre– Community and

amateur theatre

© Sara Krulwich/NYTimes/Redux


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What Is a Critic?

• Someone who observes theatre and then analyzes and comments on it

• A knowledgeable and highly sensitive audience member

• Presumably better informed about theatre than the average spectator

• However, most audience members act as amateur critics


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What is Criticism?

• Criticism is the understanding and appraising of a theatrical event.– Although, sometimes theatre critics cannot

help but enjoy “finding fault”

“With the single exception of Homer, there is no eminent writer . . .whom I can despise so entirely as I despise Shakespeare . . .”

George Bernard Shaw


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Preparation for Criticism

• Ideally, a critic should have a thorough knowledge of and background in theatre.

• An ideal theatre critic should possess:– Knowledge of theatre history– Knowledge of acting, directing, and design– Familiarity with different plays and different

styles as well as playwrights– The ability to relate theatrical events to

society


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Critical Criteria

• Every critic should develop criteria (often in the form of a set of questions) by which to judge a play and production.

• Examples of critical criteria:– What is being attempted?– Have the intentions been achieved?– Was the attempt worthwhile?


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Descriptive and Prescriptive Criticism

• Descriptive criticism– Attempts to clearly and accurately describe

what is happening in a play or performance

• Prescriptive criticism– Attempts to not only describe the play or

performance, but also offer advice and comments about how it should be done.

John Poole

This page should be deleted as the new edition does not reference descriptive and prescriptive criticism.


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Fact or Opinion in Criticism

• It is important to always distinguish the facts in a criticism from the opinions of the critic!

• Critics can make us aware of information we might not otherwise have known.

• Critics offer background material about the playwright, subject matter of the play, or the style of the production.

© Gerry Goodstein/Yale Repertory Theatre


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The Reviewer and the Critic

• What’s the difference???– Reviewer

• Usually works for television, radio, or newspaper• Reports on the theatrical event• Summarizes plot and identifies actors• Offers an opinion on whether or not the event is

worth seeing

– Critic• Goes into greater detail in describing and

analyzing the theatre event• Usually works for a magazine or scholarly journal• Contextualizes the theatrical event


The Dramaturg or Literary Manager

• The dramaturg or literary manager is a person who often serves a theatre company as a resident or in-house critic.

• Dramaturg comes from the German word for “dramatic adviser.”

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The Dramaturg or Literary Manager

• Duties:– Discovering and reading promising new plays– Working with playwrights on the development of new

scripts– Identifying significant plays from the past that may

have been overlooked– Conducting research on previous productions of

classic plays– Preparing reports on the history of plays– Researching criticism and interpretations of plays

from the past– Writing articles for the programs that are distributed

when plays are produced

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The Audience’s Relationship to Criticism

• The audience’s independent judgment:– Theatergoers should not be intimidated by

critical authority.– There is no absolute authority; critics often

disagree with one another about a play.– Audience members can and should make up

their own minds.


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The Audience’s Relationship to Criticism

• Analysis and overanalysis:– Some critics can become so concerned with

criticizing the play that they miss the joy of the experience.

– The critic must be aware of the job without letting it overshadow the immediacy of the theatrical event.

Documents

2 Background and Expectations of the Audience © T Charles Erickson Copyright © McGraw-Hill Education. All rights reserved. No reproduction or distribution