Disgraceful Behavior in the Theatre
By Margaret Medwedew: Staff Writer
It always seemed to me that the rules were different for the theatre and especially theatre people. Theatre professionals act in a way separate from the normal population. The School of Theatre operates differently than other colleges within Florida State University. SOT acts more like a family to me than any other organization, so it surprised me to notice something rather upsetting at a School of Theatre production and on Theatre Night, no less.
Though hardly as dynamic as other SOT productions, The Tamer Tamed was a fantastic show hampered only by its length. It seemed to take an eternity to reach intermission and a good portion of the audience gladly took the opportunity to stretch their legs. Theatre majors flooded the FAB lobby, sharing their opinion of the show with their peers. The partial lunar eclipse was drawing a crowd outside, but I myself was distracted by the students exiting the FAB and continuing to walk away. Theatre majors leaving a show at intermission?!?! The concept of anyone leaving a show at intermission is foreign and offensive to me as a lover of the theatre. But to see my peers leave a show made me furious. Sure, they had been counted as seeing the show, but they didn’t stick it out to see if Tamer could change their initial reactions. How can you express an interest in working in the theatre if you leave or give up just when things get |
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hard or boring? Initially, I pushed away my anger and felt pity for those people when they missed the superior second act of Tamer.
On the way home, though, it occurred to me just how awful an offense these people had committed. Not only had they left a School of Theatre show, they had walked out on their peers! It was disrespectful to the actors and every member of the technical crew. The work put into an SOT show rates in the megatons, something theatre majors should be able to appreciate because they’ve done it themselves. I may have been bored witless, but my friends were onstage and backstage working their tails off, and I watched the show for them.
Friends on stage are another bone of contention I have to pick. As a social creature, I’ll be the first to admit that half the fun of attending a show is seeing people I know and supporting my friends onstage. While they are hilarious in their own right, Slow Children Playing only had a real draw to me when one of my dear friends was cast in a show. I love schmoozing with the audience and chatting up a storm before the lights dim, so I think it’s wonderful when friends show up to support each other. My problem is when friends don’t extend that courtesy to other performers and act as good audience members. Last semester, Small but Fierce presented a short opera (“Gallantry”), a triumph for all involved in the production. This drew in a new audience for the unique show, music majors! A production decision placed “Gallantry” first in the line-up of short shows, a decision I agreed with
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at the time. The problem lay in that all of the music majors who came to see the short opera left at intermission! This is disgraceful behavior! These people should have understood just as well as theatre majors what it means to be a good audience member, but instead, they acted in a disrespectful manner. Their actions were hurtful to actors who had worked just as hard to have their shows appreciated by people who didn’t give them a chance.
Smaller and Fiercer tried to circumvent this same behavior by placing this semester’s short opera (“Hand of Bridge”) at the end of the show line-up. Now, the music majors would have to stay the whole time! But, unfortunately, they found a way to get around being good audience members yet again. It still perplexes me, but they showed up at intermission and were still able to see the show. How, might you ask, were they able to get in at intermission for the wildly popular show? Opening night, the house crew had to break out more chairs for all of the people, even placing several souls Indian-style on the ground just outside the performing space. How were the music majors able to get seats? Because some of the theatre majors present for the first act left at intermission. I was disgusted to recognize faces and not see them again as act two began.
If you don’t have anything nice to say, don’t say anything at all. I’m of the opinion that if you can’t devote your entire attention to the theatre, you shouldn’t go. To me, smaller audiences are preferable to ones filled with insensitive members.
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