Theater Productions

One place loaded with ritual, symbolism and ceremony is the Theater. Certain truths hold regardless of the show or production being performed. The curtain, the props, the lights the set, the cast, opening night jitters, “break a leg” and “the show must go on”. So much of the process of a show is in its rituals, whether one is in the audience, or involved with the production itself. Someone is in charge of every aspect of the show, but the communication required between so many people makes tempers short and niceties seem scarce to an outsider. Everyone must be on the same page to make the magic happen and the show a success: the props manager, the stage manager, the house manager, the director, the producer, the cast and the crew and the chorus.

The theater is a place of great superstition, whether real or contrived, it is a tradition and ritual. One that most self proclaimed “Drama Geeks” participate in, and perpetuate with glee. It is a means to prove that they belong in the complex world behind the scenes. It is a shared experience and secret language to create exclusivity, like Latin and botanical names to the scientist. For example: no true theater person, will actually wish another that they respect “good luck” It would jinx their performance, instead they say something that sounds rude, like: “Break a leg, or your neck or fall down horribly in flames…”

Even worse, for British actors in particular is to dare to utter the actual name of the “Scottish Play” by Master Shakespeare! (MacBeth). No one does this unless the play is actually being performed. It is akin to breaking a mirror in other superstitions. Perhaps these superstitions came from the early vaudeville performers, and further back, maybe the Roma, the gypsies that traveled and made their living as performing troupes and later with circus acts…

Every production has one or more of these back stage scenarios: nervous understudies, lost props, incomplete or faulty sets, temperamental (or occasionally incompetent) directors, arrogant actors, or wandering cast members who consistently miss their cues, or take the costumes home. Murphy ’s Law seems to run rampant in the theater, and if nothing actually goes wrong at all… well that’s when the real trouble begins. If nothing goes wrong, well it could mean anything! The show will be a flop, the lead actor will get TB, or the producers will pull out… the worry list is endless. But somehow it all works out. And no matter what drama unfolds behind the curtain, somehow it all comes together when the curtain goes up. No one knows how, or even why, it just works out –usually at the last possible minute.

Now lets flip the coin: As an eager audience member one approaches the ticket sales with hopeful enthusiasm, than shedding coats and finding friends, one takes a seat. The folding seats, crunched up legs and negotiating the passage of fellow patrons squeezing past to claim their own seats is just one small part of the larger normative experience. In fact, as cheesy as this may seem, those narrow folding seats are such an important part of the larger, theatrical magic experience, that the whole concept has been replicated in movie theaters and film houses around the globe. Once the arrival rituals have completed and the house lights go down, one finds oneself waiting in hushed anticipation for the curtain to rise and the show to begin. A particularly enthusiastic crowd may even laugh and applaud the narrator or opening act onto the stage.

Certain behavior protocols are implicit and implied though rarely ever pointed out directly. This is one way that habit and ritual shape our experience and show us their relevance. Again it is the shared experience that instructs one to the proper, expected behavior. Examples might be applauding after each act, or for a particularly well executed gesture or line, Standing up at the end of the performance to show extra enthusiasm. Quietly excusing one ’s self and creeping out to cough, sneeze or let some other noisy bodily function erupt. And the ushers are nearby to encourage waiting for applause or a musical interlude, before creeping back to ones seat in the half dark.

Although there are those who commit the outrageous sin of allowing their cell phones to ring in the theater, the disapproval from the surrounding peers does more to encourage compliance then the largest policeman or laminated sign could ever do. This entire experience is a concentrated example of how we learn our behavior protocols in the world at large. These are unspoken rules and rituals by which we live our lives and engage in the social norms of our particular society or tribe.