Talking Back

I'm writing from the gorgeous Caribbean island of Grenada, where I'm visiting my boyfriend who's here for medical school.  Most of the past two days have been spent on campus, which has been great for me because it means I'm getting writing done while he's studying (although admittedly, I haven't been all that productive so far, but I don't leave until Friday and it's only Tuesday, and I've been working like crazy since early July, so this is my vacation, dammit).  

Anyway, I want to talk about this encouraging NYT article on post-show talkbacks.  Like the author of the article, I'm not sure how effective a marketing strategy talkbacks are--I doubt someone who wasn't interesting in seeing Oleanna, say, rushed out to buy tickets once the talkbacks were announced--but I think they're an immensely powerful tool in getting people to think about theatre in an immediate, personal way.  During my college years in Boston, I went to a fair number of talkbacks, including one with Jason Robert Brown after the Speakeasy's production of The Last Five Years and ones after each reading in the Huntington's new play festival, Breaking Ground.  Boston theatre is very, very good about talkbacks, even though they have varying results.  There were definitely times where I found the audience's questions--or pronouncements, as was often the case--frustrating, but overall, I'm glad talkbacks are such a part of the Boston theatre scene, and I'd love for New York theatre to follow suit. 

One of the amazing and valuable things about theatre in general and Broadway in particular is its accessibility.  I didn't grow up watching very much TV or movies, and there are still huge gaps in my pop culture education, to the point where I don't know who the majority of movie and television stars are or what they've been in.  Consequently, I don't really understand idolizing film and TV actors, especially since I'm so used to theatre, where you can see the cast of the show you just saw on the subway on your way home.  But even TV and film stars, who are usually separated from the public by a lens or a bodyguard or the glossy pages of a magazine, are accessible onstage.  There's something special about being in the same room as an actor, about breathing the same air and watching them go through those emotions in real time, right in front of you.  

Talkbacks take things a step further by making not only the actors accessible, but the material, as well.  To stick with the Oleanna example, having experts in fields relevant to the play's subject matter clearly states that the the issues in the play are rooted in the real world.  Moreover--and more importantly--being able to share their opinions with experts validates the audiences' reaction to the play and directly makes them a part of the action.  A lively post-show discussion rife with disagreements and even tension makes the audience more invested in the characters than they may otherwise be, and forces everyone to think more about why they had the reactions they did.  I'm not sure that people are necessarily used to discussing theatre and movies on their way home, or that a lot of people are all that comfortable arguing about what they'd seen.  Some works lend themselves more to post-show discussions, certainly, but I'm hoping talkbacks help create an environment where thinking critically about what you just saw and talking about it becomes the norm for something like Shrek or Julia & Julie (both of which I think are significantly smarter than they're given credit for) in addition to intense works like Oleanna or District 9.  There's always something to say about a story, and every reaction is worth examining and defending.  I don't think any creative experience is really complete without that.