Start with a Discussion
Ask students: How should an audience behave at a play? Rock concert? Tennis match? Football game? Lecture? Movie? Audience behavior changes depending on the situation. For example, an audience is expected to cheer at a football game, but it’s completely against etiquette rules for a tennis match.
You could even talk about how audience behavior has changed over time. Audience behavior for a Shakespeare play in the Elizabethan era had more in common with a WWE match audience than today’s typical 21st century audience.
What is Audience Etiquette?
Etiquette is a way of behaving in a situation. Tennis match = quiet audience. At the beginning of the year, have a discussion with your classes about how everyone should behave when watching presentations. You could even start the discussion with a little performance of your own – invite two students to the front of the class to improvise a scene. As they perform, model “good audience behavior” and “bad audience behavior.” As you discuss audience etiquette, write down student suggestions. You could even write their suggestions on chart paper and hang it up permanently. Some important points to highlight:
Paying attention
Staying silent
Phones turned off and put away
Leaning forward
Eyes on the stage
Sitting still
Appropriate response at the end of a scene
Following instructions, if needed (eg: in an improv scenario, responding to an ask for a location or a scene title)
THEATER ETIQUETTE
Live theater is not a TV show or a video you can rewind if you miss something. It is not
computer generated. It is not a recording of something that happened some other time. It
really happens - right now - and it is an art form that depends on both artists and audience.
The quality of a single performance depends partly on the audience, on how the people
respond and how they behave. When you are there, it depends on YOU!
When you walk into a theater, you can feel that something is about to happen. It is exciting
just to be in the room. The stage holds the secret of what is about to come to life, as you
find your seats for a performance that is being presented just for you! Sometimes it is so
thrilling you want to get goofy, laugh and shout. But remember that when the play begins,
everyone in the audience has a responsibility. You are part of the play. You are connected
with the other people in the audience and the ones on stage. They can SEE you, HEAR you,
and FEEL you, just as you can see, hear and feel them. If you are talking about what you
did yesterday or opening a candy wrapper, you will miss something. And, it will miss you.
Your laughter, your responses, your attention, your imagination, and most especially your
energy, are part of the experience. In short, the play can be better because of YOU!
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
™ Arriving on time is the first important action you can perform. At an IN THE WINGS
performance, since it is General Admission/Open Seating, NO ONE will be admitted
after the curtain has gone up. It is too difficult to find an empty seat in the dark and
causes too much disturbance to those who arrived on time and are now enjoying the
show.
™ When the performance is about to begin, the lights will dim. This is a signal for the
actors and the audience to put aside concerns and conversation and settle into the
world of the play.
™ The performers expect the audience’s full attention and focus. Performance is a time
to think inwardly, not a time to share your thoughts aloud. Talking to neighbors
(even in whispers) carries easily to others in the audience and to the actors on-stage. It
is disruptive and distracting.
™ There is no food in the auditorium: soda, candy, and other snacks are noisy and,
therefore, distracting. Please throw them away before you enter the audience area.
™ Walking through the aisles during the performance is extremely disruptive.
Actors occasionally use aisles and stairways as exits and entrances. The actors will
notice any movement in the performance space. Please use the restroom and take care
of all other concerns outside before the show or at intermission.
™ Cell phones, watch alarms and other electronic devices should be turned off
before the performance begins. When watch alarms, cell phones, and pagers go off
it is very distracting for the actors and the audience. Text messaging or using laptops
is also very distracting because the bright light emitted from the devices shines right in
your neighbors’ eyes and is very annoying.
™ Please be courteous and show respect to your theater neighbors by removing a crying
or disruptive child. Nothing ruins a performance faster than trying to hear dialogue or
music over the strains of a screaming child.
Ask students: How should an audience behave at a play? Rock concert? Tennis match? Football game? Lecture? Movie? Audience behavior changes depending on the situation. For example, an audience is expected to cheer at a football game, but it’s completely against etiquette rules for a tennis match.
You could even talk about how audience behavior has changed over time. Audience behavior for a Shakespeare play in the Elizabethan era had more in common with a WWE match audience than today’s typical 21st century audience.
What is Audience Etiquette?
Etiquette is a way of behaving in a situation. Tennis match = quiet audience. At the beginning of the year, have a discussion with your classes about how everyone should behave when watching presentations. You could even start the discussion with a little performance of your own – invite two students to the front of the class to improvise a scene. As they perform, model “good audience behavior” and “bad audience behavior.” As you discuss audience etiquette, write down student suggestions. You could even write their suggestions on chart paper and hang it up permanently. Some important points to highlight:
Paying attention
Staying silent
Phones turned off and put away
Leaning forward
Eyes on the stage
Sitting still
Appropriate response at the end of a scene
Following instructions, if needed (eg: in an improv scenario, responding to an ask for a location or a scene title)
THEATER ETIQUETTE
Live theater is not a TV show or a video you can rewind if you miss something. It is not
computer generated. It is not a recording of something that happened some other time. It
really happens - right now - and it is an art form that depends on both artists and audience.
The quality of a single performance depends partly on the audience, on how the people
respond and how they behave. When you are there, it depends on YOU!
When you walk into a theater, you can feel that something is about to happen. It is exciting
just to be in the room. The stage holds the secret of what is about to come to life, as you
find your seats for a performance that is being presented just for you! Sometimes it is so
thrilling you want to get goofy, laugh and shout. But remember that when the play begins,
everyone in the audience has a responsibility. You are part of the play. You are connected
with the other people in the audience and the ones on stage. They can SEE you, HEAR you,
and FEEL you, just as you can see, hear and feel them. If you are talking about what you
did yesterday or opening a candy wrapper, you will miss something. And, it will miss you.
Your laughter, your responses, your attention, your imagination, and most especially your
energy, are part of the experience. In short, the play can be better because of YOU!
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
™ Arriving on time is the first important action you can perform. At an IN THE WINGS
performance, since it is General Admission/Open Seating, NO ONE will be admitted
after the curtain has gone up. It is too difficult to find an empty seat in the dark and
causes too much disturbance to those who arrived on time and are now enjoying the
show.
™ When the performance is about to begin, the lights will dim. This is a signal for the
actors and the audience to put aside concerns and conversation and settle into the
world of the play.
™ The performers expect the audience’s full attention and focus. Performance is a time
to think inwardly, not a time to share your thoughts aloud. Talking to neighbors
(even in whispers) carries easily to others in the audience and to the actors on-stage. It
is disruptive and distracting.
™ There is no food in the auditorium: soda, candy, and other snacks are noisy and,
therefore, distracting. Please throw them away before you enter the audience area.
™ Walking through the aisles during the performance is extremely disruptive.
Actors occasionally use aisles and stairways as exits and entrances. The actors will
notice any movement in the performance space. Please use the restroom and take care
of all other concerns outside before the show or at intermission.
™ Cell phones, watch alarms and other electronic devices should be turned off
before the performance begins. When watch alarms, cell phones, and pagers go off
it is very distracting for the actors and the audience. Text messaging or using laptops
is also very distracting because the bright light emitted from the devices shines right in
your neighbors’ eyes and is very annoying.
™ Please be courteous and show respect to your theater neighbors by removing a crying
or disruptive child. Nothing ruins a performance faster than trying to hear dialogue or
music over the strains of a screaming child.
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