Wednesday, April 16, 2008
theater Theater-going: It's a circus, alright
Posted by Curt Holman @Curt_Holman on Wed, Apr 16, 2008 at 7:16 PM
I saw two impressive, diametrically-opposite shows last weekend: the family-friendly musical Cinderella Della Circus at the Center for Puppetry Arts and the taut political drama In Darfur at Horizon Theatre. My review of the world premiere of Cinderella Della Circus is now on-line. I previewed In Darfur last week, will write about it a little more in this blog this week, and will have a review up next week.
Both of the shows I attended demonstrated a phenomenon that completely baffles me: people showing up after a play begins. Now, we all live in Atlanta, and we know that traffic karma sometimes aspires against us, so sometimes people can't help being tardy, especially with the Downtown Connector repaving project having just commenced. (At the same time, we all should know that Atlanta traffic sucks and should plan accordingly.) And everyone knows — and if they don't, they should — that latecomers are major distractions as they move down the aisles, search the darkened theater for seats and get themselves settled. Even people who try to be conscientious sound like a herd of elephants. Horizon has a set of steps at the back of the house that emits resounding creaks.
I'm not just distracted by the noise and activity, but also by a nagging question involving the super-latecomers: what kind of person arrives at a show a HALF-HOUR after curtain time and still wants to see it? That happened at both Cinderella Della Circus and In Darfur, shows that are roughly 60 and 90 minutes, respectively. Why would you still want to see a show having missed, one half or even one third of its content? Am I crazy? Isn't it impossible to follow the plot? Do you really feel like you get your money's worth? It's not like the movies, where you can stay and see the beginning of the next show to find out what you missed (assuming people can still do that).
Remember the scene in Spider-man 2 when Peter Parker arrives late for Mary Jane's play, and the usher (in a cameo by Bruce Campbell) adamantly refuses to seat him, pointing to a "NO LATE SEATING" sign? Does that still happen, or has that become a thing of the past? Sometimes I can tell when ushers hold the late-comers until a break between scenes or a lull in the action, to make the intrusions less disruptive, but I don't know of audiences being refused admittance.
Maybe theaters have strict policies for rescheduling tickets, although I'd be very surprised if that were the case at the Center for Puppetry Arts or Horizon Theatre (unless the run of the show in question is sold out). Perhaps one of my knowledgeable readers can enlighten me.
(Photo courtesy of the Center for Puppetry Arts)
Comments (4)
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Sometimes people arrive late enough that it makes no sense for them to enter the theater until intermission so we have them wait where they can hear. Sometimes they arrive 5-10 minutes late and then we try to seat them during a scene change or applause. It all depends on the type of production and how late they arrive.
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For each show, we set moments where there will be late cues. (if its a musical its usually during applause)If they arrive after the last late cue, they don't go in until intermission. Some shows, we tell them they will have to come another night (unless they have paid tickets, then we offer tickets for another night)
I attended a performance of "The Merchant of Venice" at The Shakespeare Tavern and the entire audience sat and waited 20 minutes for a group of latecomers. An announcement was made that they were on their way and apparently the theatre didn't want to start the show because the actors use the same entrance. I was truly appalled that this group of rude theatre goers who got held up at their restaurant kept an entire house full of people captive for 20 extra minutes. Keep in mind most had already arrived early to partake of their tavern dinner so it was a long wait. When the group finally arrived, the audience, (myself included) erupted in "Boos!" - I meant to write the Tavern at the time to complain, but I didn't - so I guess I'm complaining now! In my opinion, the play should have started on time and the late group should have waited in the lobby until intermission.
Atlanta is more tolerant of this boorish behavior, than other communities. One episode an Shakespeare Tavern was particularly appalling. That evening, 50 noisy school kids arrived about 30 minutes into the production. Their disruption continued throught the performance. But I have to hand to the Tavern crew. The recognized the issue, called an apologized to their patrons and offered those who were inconvenienced free tickets another evening. Those who are too busy to plan ahead or simply can't tell time, should not inconvenience those who manage to get their on time. I suggest all theatres seat latecomers at the end of the curtain speech, then offer alternative tickets. I'd like to see this posted in every lobby and each online ticket purchase can remding patrons to be in their seats at the starting time.
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