I had to share this article by New York theater critic David Cote because it really is an indictment of digital-age jitteriness screwing up culture and literacy instead of broadening same as was promised. It’s not really surprising that a contemporary theater audience doesn’t know that a play is not typically an interactive experience, and yet it is still a little surprising. Cote’s “What Not to Do at Hugh Jackman’s New Broadway Show” is a funny but stern lecture that not only lays down basic rules for audience behavior, but even implies that people need a refresher course in what exactly theater is. All of his observations — the use of smartphone cameras, the callouts to Jackman as celebrity, applauding at the wrong moments — all reek of digital-age induced illiteracy and narcissism. From Cote’s article:
So thunderstruck are they to be in a theater with the godlike Jackman, they forget to turn off their phones. Or worse, they snap pictures. At the press night I attended, some woman lacking a filter filled in the final, quiet moments of the play with an audible, “Holy shit!” Nice way to ruin a final tableau.
Here’s the first thing to know about a play: Although you are there to experience it, it is not actually about you.
Read David Cote’s full article at TimeOut New York here.
