Date: Thu, 01 May 1997 09:45:22 -0500
From: Robert Smythe <mum-AT-philadelphia.libertynet.org>
Subject: Reply to Rosemary's Controversy Reply


Rosemary of Icarus  wrote:
> 
> I'm not sure it is fair to suggest that a performer has an antangonist
> relationship with their audiences generally, becuase they are upset by the
> truly rude behavior of one. 

Dear Rosemary,

I, as always, appreciate your comments. I can certainly understand and 
empathize with Rob D'Arc's experience as a performer; don't misunderstand me.

I was not suggesting that Rob D'Arc was antagonistic to audiences generally; I 
was commenting on the tone of other postings that leaned toward a generally 
antagonistic tone toward the public, and it is a tone one hears often when 
puppeteers talk about their work.

I'm sure that we have all been upset by the behavior of certain members of 
audiences: hasn't everyone performed in a school setting where teachers graded 
papers during the performance? In this particular case, though, as reported, this 
was not just an individual but a teacher (or chaperone) representing the school 
which made up the audience. Acting  _in loco parentis_ and (from their point of 
view, perhaps) in the best interests of the kids in their charge, while the 
method of doing it was questionable, the adult's protests were not unreasonable 
and did not prevent others from participating in the performance, since the 
whole audience was from the same school.

> I greatly value our audiences -- they teach us
>so much -- but someone who has no consideration is hard to take sometimes.

And I think this is where the perforrmer could have taught his audience 
something, too. If the audience was ignorant, wasn't this a great opportunity 
(and appropriate) to instruct the teacher, at least, as to how to voice concern?  If 
there was no one but the puppeteer to take concerns to, how else should this 
concern have been expressed? I think it is possible the teacher was loud in order 
to be heard over the taped soundtrack and was not just acting poorly. Without 
any representive of the theatre present to either quiet her/him down or address 
the concerns, maybe this was the best possible.  I agree that the performer had a 
right to be annoyed, but perhaps the school's representative had a real reason 
for their "boorish" behavior.

> Regarding the "where was the house manager" question, I would suspect that
> there was no front of house staff.   It is not uncommon for small theaters to
> have performers running the box office and house.  This creates it's own set
> of problems, since it is next to impossible to reprimand poor behavior from
> the stage.  It is, unfortunately, sometimes necessary due to limited
> staff/volunteer resources.  A more established theatre may have a paid house
> manager, or experienced volunteers, but we often have inexperienced people
> running the house, and they are usually ill-equiped to deal with a real
> problem.  I would agree it is far more professional to have qualified staff
> in *all* aspects of production and management, but -- how?  Until we have a
> more solid base of financial support, we do the best we can with the
> resources we have.
> 
> I am curious, do you refuse to refund ticket prices to customers who did not
> like the show?  This has only happened to us on two occassions, and one was
> not our show but a guest artist.  I frankly hesitated giving money back to
> someone because they just "didn't care for the show" -- is the way one woman
> put it.
> 
> One of our board members insisted we have a 100% refund policy.  Her
> philosophy is: we want the customers to have a good experience.  Better they
> walk away happy and perhaps return another day, than be so disgruntled they
> never want to return, or spread negative word-of-mouth about us.
> 
> I certainly hope the message isn't that we agreed the show was not worth the
> price of admission!  We are practicing the "customer is always right" adage.
> 
> Thank you for your thought provoking post.  I will be interested to hear how
> others respond.
> 
> Regards,
> Rosemary
> Icarus Puppet Company
> 
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