Attending a show? You will, of course, be
on time. You will not
talk (or poke your fellow theatergoers). You will not use your
cell phone. You will not bring your
own food. You will not
fight. You will not
riot.
Audiences weren't always so sedate. Roman audiences were notoriously
drunk. Shakespeare's
groundlings were famously rambunctious. Victorian theater were hotbeds of
prostitution. Indeed, it isn't until P.T. Barnam opened a lecture hall in his
American Museum that "museum" standards of behavior became applied to audiences for live entertainment, and it never completely stuck (see Bill Landis and Michelle Clifford's wonderful
Sleazoid Express for fascinating descriptions of the lively audiences found at Times Square's grindhouse theaters). But, for the most part, theater and moviegoing is now a civil, dignified undertaking. How did this happen?
Well, it all started one day in
1849.
posted by Astro Zombie
on Feb 19, 2006 -
26 comments
