Applause for thought

Published Monday 18 August 2008 at 17:20

Writing on audience etiquette, Susan Nuttall (Stage Talk, August 7, page 8) complained about the behaviour of four American tourists at the final curtain standing up, applauding and wolf-whistling, of which she bitterly disapproved. Calling them clowns, she went on to say one member of the cast of four “gave them a disapproving glance”.

Does this mean 25% of the cast agreed with her while 75% did not? But it does raise some interesting issues. I, too, am an offender, though not a serial one. I always suspected this acclaim at the end of a performance, when warranted, was an adrenaline-boosting rush to send a deliciously happy cast home, knowing their hard work had been so well received and appreciated. Or am I wrong to assume this?

Maybe those of us who give standing ovations with occasional whoops of approval have got it wrong and are out of order. I can tell this lady for an audience to rise as one spontaneously at the end of a breathtaking performance can be electrifying and the cast can’t help but be moved by it. Or do we just sit and clap politely?

So is it out of order? What are the rules (if any) and what do the actors themselves think of all this?

Bernard Hanson

Cherry Orchard

Port Erin

Isle of Man