Download Audience Roles and Responsibilites

Audience Roles and Responsibilities
People participate in live performances in one of two ways. They are either part of the production or
they are part of the audience. Directors, conductors, actors, musicians, and members of the stage crew
are part of the production. They have the responsibility of creating an accurate and entertaining
representation of a composer’s music or playwright’s script. They practice their roles for many months
leading up to the performance. They take great pride in their work and are excited to share their
experience with audience.
Members of the audience are an equally important part of a performance. Without the audience, there
can be no performance. As a member of the audience, it is your responsibility to be ready to experience
what the performers have to share. The following guidelines to be a good place to start as you begin to
experience everything that a live performance has to offer.
Prepare Yourself: Try to learn something about the performance you are attending, either by learning
about a composer or a play. Audience members who have some background knowledge about what
they will experience tend to understand more of what is happening onstage.
Be Thoughtful: Thoughtful people are aware of how their actions affect the people around them.
Thoughtful audience members refrain from behaviors that might distract performers and other
audience members.
Some examples of behaviors that performers and audience members find distracting are:





Arriving late
Yelling, talking, and whispering
Making noise with purses, coats, candy wrappers, and gum
Texting, playing with a cell phone, or taking pictures
Getting up and down out of your seat or kicking the seat in front of you
The easiest way to avoid these common audience mistakes is to turn your phone off and choose not to
talk to, or bother, the people near you.
Show Appreciation: Everyone in the production team works diligently to give the audience members a
good show. Whether or not you liked the performance, it is still considerate to show appreciation for all
of the people who worked to make it possible. Appropriate ways of showing appreciation are:





Practice good manners during the performance
Laugh when the performance is funny
Applaud when it is appropriate during the performance
Applaud when the performance is over (stand up and applaud if it’s really great)...this tells the
performers and crew that you appreciate their work
Say, “Bravo” or “Brava”
By being thoughtful and showing appreciation, you will ensure that the performers and audience
members will have an enjoyable experience at the performance.