The Salt Lake tribune. [volume] (Salt Lake City, Utah) 1890-current, 1912-04-07
The Psychology of Theater Audiences By William Bernard

Ing. our matinee audiences are COM
posed entirely Of women. and. our even
| log audiences are composed chiefly OF
women and the men they have brought
ater unattached; and these few ARE not
important enough. from the heoretic
standpoint. To alter the psychological as
pert OF the audience And 10 Is this that
constitutes one Of the most important
differences between modern thestcr au-
dience and other kinds OF crowds.
The influence OF this fact upon the
dramatist Is very potent. First 90 NIL, az
| have said n forces him 20 deal chiefly
In action with passion for ts motive.
And this necessity ACCOUNTS for the pre-
ponderauce of female characters over
male In the large majority of the great
Mrs. Alving. Bcddn Gabler, notice Mag
da and Camille; notice Mrs Tanqurray,
Mrs Ebhsmth Iris and Letty'--to cite
only n few examples. Furthermore, since
women arc by nature comparatively In
attentive the femilinlty ~ tie modern
theatcr audience forces the drRma'ist e.
repetition and parallelism. In order 70
keep his play clear, though much ~ b.
be unattended to- Eugene Scribe, who
knew tho theat1r. used 10 say that every
important statement In tho exposition
OF a play must be made at least thre.
times. This, OF course Is seldom neCcs-
sary In novel. where things may be
said once FOR all.
The rreEalinE l1a'fSUbNrNNHs Nl a
thcater audience az the present day iS
due also TO the fact that " Is peculiarly
conscious ~ Itself. apart from the PLAY
that Il has come to sec. Many people
''go TO the thcBtrr. as the phrase ls.
without caring much whether they see
one play or another. what they want
chiefly Is TO tmmcrse Themselves In
theater audience. This IS especially true
Ia New York OF the large percentage of
people from out Of town who 'sco 10 the
thcater' merely as onG phase OF their
o t. IL.
OF the many women in the boxes and the
orchestra who 20 less 10 SEQ than 20 BE-
seen II Is one Of the great difficulties
OF the dramatist that he must capture
and enchain the attention OF sn audi
encc thus composed. 4 man does not
pick no a novel unless ne cares 20 read
chiefly for the sense OF being there
Certainly. therefore. the problem OF The
dranatist Ia In this respect, more dif-
ncult than that or tho novelist, for he
rnst rnats Ms audience lose oonscsous-
ness OF itself In the consciousness OF his
play.
One OF the most essential differences
between thsater audience and othsT
kinds OF crowds Hes in tho purpose fot
which IL is convened. This purpose IL
always recreation. thcater audience
So therefore less serious than church
or political or social con
yention. ~ does not come To be cdu-
Gated or edited: IL has no desire 20 be
taught. What u wants u 10 nave is
rnent-ln the widest sense OF the word
through Laughter sy1npathr
terror. and tears. And II ~ amusement
az this sort thet the great dramRtists
have ever given IL
The trouble with most % the dream
ers who league themselves ior the up
lifting Of tho stage is that they COO
slider the thsatsr with an Illogical SOL
sunity They base their efforts on the
proposition that theateT audience ought
TO want 10 be edited. A. y matter or
.nd Shakespeare who knew the limits
n their art. never said n word about
uplifting the stage They wrote plays ~
please tho crowd. and II. through hsiT
nherep, greatness they became teach
srs as well a. entertainers. they did 40
without an tail talk about the soicrnnitr
4 their mission. Their audiences learned
argciy. but thCy did 80 unawarcs-''od
1clng with them when thew knew II n9i-
rho demand for an endowed toeater ~
America comes chiefly from those who
,eilevc tnat n great plav canot earn It's
,wn living. Yet Hamlet has made more
money ;isn any other play IN EnEhsn.
lraw and ln our own day wc have seen
'Chantscicr~ colniug money all srcuiid
he world. There were not any endov@d
heaters ia E2iSabethsr London 'iNe
h.. crowd Tho sort Of plays u wants
.nd you viii not have TO seek benehn"nc@
o keco your thcaier noatlns: but' on
vcr Iurs The crowd 20 listen 90 the sort
/ PLAYS IL does not want Therr II
.iEs. maxim appended 20 one o' ticoIEF
de- .'Fnbles IN Slang In CpNf'
nr Get Underneath. IL TIE
bc.ttCr iu America - weak. what u
srSe 81 no. @ndowmcn.-ii needs great
na popular plays. Why should We waste
ur money and our energy trying 10 make
~. ,-vond come 10 see The Master
.tliser" or ~ Blot iu tho 'Scutchcou.
r THE Hour Glass II Is willing
nough 20 come without urEiuE 20 ses
Alias Jimmy Valentino" and '.Madsins
Give us one great dramattst who
nd~rstar.dS The crowd and va shall not
ave 10 form societies % prUpaEatc h'-
II Anv play that S. really great.
rama. viii interest the many.