We are not a Cowed Audience!

A Shakespeare audience

At some point in the late 19th century, theatre quietened down and stopped being for everyone. The communal exhilaration that had been going for 2,500 years... was finally and comprehensively shushed.  No one knows how, really. Perhaps it was the culmination of an aristocratic plot to rid the fun-houses of proles...  Whatever the reason, theatre is stupidly quiet now.

So begins Toby Parker-Rees in his article Shout if you enjoy theatre - why have audiences gone so quiet?  Which Anzan Hoshin Roshi shared on our Google+ Shakespeare community.

I responded with a comment that ended up rather lengthy for a post:

As an audience member, I, too, prefer quiet ... at least in general. I simply wouldn't want to be part of an audience that's loud, rowdy or interrupting ... again at least not in general. Still, a few years ago, friends invited me to an abridged staging of all of Shakespeare's plays, performed in about two hours. It was in Dubai, and this sort of production was perfect for an audience that probably wanted Shakespeare as a brisk, funny medley. I remember us laughing, reacting and applauding frequently throughout the performance. The troupe did a fine job of actively engaging us, and we responded noisily!

As far as the Parker-Rees' article is concerned, I found it to be very informative and interesting, too. Yet, I couldn't really take it very seriously, either, as I wondered if it was actually meant to be a sardonic one. I feel rather relaxed and unself-conscious in the theater - stage or film - even in my relative quiet and even in that proper decorum that Parker-Rees seems to lament. There is plenty of noise, interruption, hullabaloo in different segments of modern-day life (e.g., rush-hour traffic, bustling cities, construction sites) that I long for the quiet absorption and vicarious release of theater-going.

Sporting events is probably where we have more of the audience of old, which Parker-Rees seems to pine for. Whether at the stadium itself or at home watching on TV, my friends and I yell, jump and curse freely, depending on how our home team is playing. So I'd argue against his notion that somehow we've become more of an aristocratic, cowed audience. Yes, we may have evolved with the times, but as an audience we have a wider range of entertainment options at our disposal and therefore greater freedom to be whatever: We are quiet when we want to be, and we are noisy when we want to be.

The roaring crowd at the Stanley Cup rally for the Chicago Blackhawks (image credit:  ESPN)