Welcome back to the most controversial issue on social media--
Standing Ovations
If you haven't read Parts One and Two, go to
http://thiscantbebroccoli.blogspot.com/2020/11/theater-and-standing-ovation.html
http://thiscantbebroccoli.blogspot.com/2020/11/theater-and-standing-ovation-pt-2.html
Today, I'm talking with someone else in the community where this took place, but this person has a different perspective on the matter.
Here's the interview:
ME: First of all, happy Thanksgiving.
THEM: A very happy Thanksgiving to you.
ME: You wrote to me after reading the last interview, because you had a different take on the whole thing.
THEM: I do.
ME: What is your take?
THEM: That idiot needs to be thrown off a building.
ME: Okay then.
THEM: Who stands all the time and then doesn't understand that if you do that, you have made the gesture meaningless?
ME: How often do you stand?
THEM: Never.
ME: Never?
THEM: I never stand.
ME: Why not?
THEM: Standing means what I watched was perfect. I have yet to see anything perfect. That is the definition of why you give a standing ovation. There is no other definition.
ME: Has anyone ever gotten mad at you for not standing?
THEM: Yes. I live in [Name of City] same as [First Person Interviewed], and people know I don't stand, and they get very irate about it.
ME: So people notice that you don't stand?
THEM: Yes.
ME: What do you say to them when they criticize you for it?
THEM: I tell them that I paid for the ticket, and that means I paid to have the experience I wanted to have, and I want to sit there and read People magazine the whole time, that's my seat and my experience to have.
ME: But you don't go that far?
THEM: If the play is boring enough, I will.
ME: See now I can understand people dragging you for that.
THEM: But why does it matter? How am I affecting you enjoying the experience if I'm--I'm not taking out my cell phone and texting like some people do. I get a seat off to the side or in the back, and if the play is bad, I sit right where I am.
ME: Will you clap at all?
THEM: Yes. I will always clap.
ME: For the effort?
THEM: Because they bothered to show up. Me clapping for you--and I count my claps.
ME: You count your claps?
THEM: I do.
ME: What does that even mean?
THEM: It's based on how much I like something.
ME: What's the minimum number of claps you'll give if a show is really bad?
THEM: Two.
ME: You will clap twice?
THEM: Twice and then I get up and leave.
ME: Do you have a maximum number?
THEM: No. If I like a show, I'll clap until everyone else has stopped clapping.
ME: But you'll never stand?
THEM: No. Well--I haven't yet.
ME: Do you think this is at all about telegraphing to the people around you what you think of the show?
THEM: Isn't that what they're doing to me when they stand even if a show isn't good? They're--
ME: It's performative, you feel.
THEM: It's performative to stand up when we all saw the same show and we all saw the same boring acting and the same lazy directing and everything else you see in a show you don't like. If you stand up after that, that's your way of--I don't know what you're doing. Are you trying to get the actors to see how much you love them? Are you trying to tell the rest of us we didn't just see what we saw? I don't know, but yes, it's performative. But we're in a theater. It makes sense the audience would be performing too.
ME: Do you think you might have a higher standard for theater than other people?
THEM: No. I think I like what I like the same way everybody else does.
ME: How much theater do you see?
THEM: I used to go all the time.
ME: Would you say you liked most of what you saw or--
THEM: I liked about ten percent of everything I would go to see.
ME: Ten percent? That's it?
THEM: I think that's high. I see a lot.
ME: But you wouldn't clap more than a few times for most of it?
THEM: I make sure to clap for each actor.
ME: Two times?
THEM: It depends on the actor.
ME: So each actor gets a different amount of claps?
THEM: Yes. I bring a notepad with me and I make notes of which actors I liked the most.
ME: Are you a critic?
THEM: No, I would never be a critic.
ME: So you're just making notes for yourself?
THEM: Yes.
ME: And you assign a clap number to each actor?
THEM: I don't think of it that way, but usually I know how many claps I'm giving someone before the show is over.
ME: So one actor can get two claps and another can get ten?
THEM: I don't think I've ever given ten claps to an actor.
ME: So ten claps is almost the same as a standing ovation?
THEM: Who claps more than ten times?
ME: I don't know. I've never counted my claps before.
THEM: Ten feels excessive.
ME: I might start counting once we get back to in-person theater.
THEM: I do it instinctively now. I don't even think about it.
ME: Have you ever considered that maybe you just hate theater?
THEM: I love theater--when it's good. When it's good, it's worth it. But you won't know if it's good until you watch it. That's the problem.
ME: Can't argue with that.
THEM: But to stand for everything? Oh no. That's embarrassing. How embarrassing for that person.
ME: Do you know [Name of Person]?
THEM: Are you supposed to tell me who they are?
ME: Not really, but we're winding down these interviews, so I'm getting messy. Do you know them?
THEM: I do. I could have guessed it was them.
ME: What do you think now that you know who they are?
THEM: I still think they're an idiot, but I thought that before I knew who they were.
ME: Got it. Well, this was great. Thank you.
THEM: Thank you.
ME: Happy Thanksgiving.
THEM: To you as well.
Them is a frequent audience member.
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