When we ‘return’ in person to the theatre, I want every performance to start exactly at the time noted on the ticket. I don’t want to have to wait the traditional seven minutes for ‘late comers’. We’ve waited long enough to get back into a ‘real’ theatre. The ‘hold’ time used to be five minutes. Then it stretched to seven. Waiting. For the latecomers.
Enough.
Ninety-nine-point nine percent of the audience are in their seats by the noted start time. One hundred percent of the cast and crew are in the building way before that noted start time, ready to ‘go on’. One hundred percent of the front of house, the usher and the box office are in the building ready to serve. But we’re waiting seven minutes for latecomers.
Enough.
Even when we do start seven minutes after the advertised start time, there are still latecomers who are allowed in “at a suitable break in the action” thus distracting our attention and that of the cast to what is going on on stage. This enables the latecomer to be late.
Enough.
This time of isolation, with lots of time spent missing live theatre, had me thinking about the theatre and how I love it and how whole worlds can be changed because of it. This idea came to me when I participated in three different ‘productions’ that involved telephone calls.
Outside the March produced The Ministry of Mundane Mysteries in which I had to suggest a mystery I wanted them to solve and then in a series of six phone calls over six days to be delivered at the times I specified, I would be called and questioned and my mystery would ultimately be solved. With Convergence Theatre there were The CORONA Variations in which I would receive six phone calls at specified times over an evening in which I would hear a scene, speech, exchange between actors etc. And finally, with 4th Line Theatre Company I could arrange to hear any one of 27 monologues from previous produced plays of the company, again at specified times and days. I chose to hear all 27 monologues, delivered at various times during one week.
In every single instance except one, I received the phone call at exactly the time I requested. With one exception. With that exception the actor was late by 10 minutes. “Is he dead?” I wondered. “Did he forget?” “Did I get the time wrong?” No. He was all apologetic when he finally called. He was fishing. Huh? FISHING!!! And he got all caught up in the exercise. “Did you catch anything?” I enquired. He did but he let it go. “HUH?” I quizzed. It was catch-and-release. He caught it. Admired it. And let it go in a humane way, although I’m sure that hook gave the fish some pause. But I digress.
Actors can start a ‘show’ on time. The audience is willing and anxious to start on time. The stage managers are chomping at the bit as is the crew etc. The Front of House is holding to wait for the stragglers. I have heard that some valiant stage managers have started anyway—bless them.
I’m seeing lots of innovation of companies trying to negotiate the on-line world of Zoom and digital programming. Bravo. But there are also hints that in spite of the new adaptation to the digital world they are holding on to the ‘old ways’ and ‘productions’ start late. I saw two on-line shows recently: Orestes from Tarragon and Scott Silven’s The Journey through TO LIVE and both started late Orestes started at 8:07 pm (!) and the nice man managing the start of Scott Silven’s The Journey said he was holding for a few minutes because there were people who had not signed in yet, even though we were told to sign in a half an hour early. I said, “They are at home! What are we waiting for?” He was sheepish. We are enabling people who are always late to continue to be late.
Enough!
I’m told my request is complicated. It’s tradition to start late and wait. Perhaps late patrons were stuck in traffic, or couldn’t find a parking spot and they paid a lot of money for the ticket, so we wait, which only enables that behaviour.
Enough and tough.
Earlier in the pandemic the Stratford Festival gave over its social media platforms first to Black and then Indigenous actors to talk about the racist issues they had to endure, hurtful comments they had to listen to, unfair practices they had to accept. The results were revolutionary for a place that was complicated, steeped in tradition and thought it was acting with good intentions. After those discussions the “As Cast” contract was cancelled for the future. The whole idea of hours of rehearsal, work week, the horribleness of tech week etc. was being closely examined and changed. That was revolutionary.
When Robin Phillips was the Artistic Director of Stratford, he wanted every performance to start exactly on time. People questioned how that would be accomplished considering people are sometimes late. “We start on time. People will be late once when they see they missed out.” Or words to that effect. I can’t remember when or if latecomers were allowed in during the show. The point is that is has been done successfully.
Ok. Start on time. It can be done. It’s always complicated, but not impossible. We’ve seen how companies have adapted to this lousy time. Fix this problem of waiting now so we hit the road running when we come back. Tradition? Change it, for the better. Stuck in traffic? Leave earlier—the whole rest of the waiting audience left early. The late patron paid a lot of money for the ticket? Yeah, so did the rest of the waiting audience. The cost of the ticket implies you are there at the time stated on the ticket as your part of the bargain. I don’t know of any reputable business that caters to the exception to the rule rather than the majority. No plane or train waits for the latecomer.
Time for the late patron to take the responsibility and the consequences. You won’t be allowed in until intermission—that way no one is disturbed or focus is ‘pulled out of the show,’ or distracted and the latecomer is not embarrassed. Forgive my distrust but if you let a person in to sit at the back until intermission, what’s to prevent them from lurching around in the dark to go to their assigned seats and disturb everybody? There are consequences if you are late, even if it’s not your fault. You wait in the lobby watching the show on the tv until intermission.
No intermission? Work it out. Ok perhaps sit them at the back of the theatre. I don’t know. Work it out, but holding the curtain is not the answer. And start now to tell your patrons that when we all gather in a theatre to watch a play together we are starting on the dot of on time. We are not waiting seven minutes because we’ve waited enough to return. Be aware. Be prepared. New day dawning.
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