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April 17, 2009

Never seen it myself

Marginal Revolution brings to my attention that from time to time Americans boo at the opera.

The rafters of the Metropolitan Opera House recently rang with the raucous sound of booing. The occasion was the premiere of Mary Zimmerman's production of Bellini's "La Sonnambula," a 19th-century opera that Ms. Zimmerman, a noted avant-garde theater director, set in present-day New York and turned into a postmodern extravaganza complete with cellphones and leather jackets. Such high-concept stagings are old hat in straight theater, but the Met's opening-night crowds run to the staid, and much of the audience reacted loudly and angrily when Ms. Zimmerman and her production team took their curtain call.

What happened to Ms. Zimmerman, while not unprecedented, is highly unusual.To be sure, booing at the opera house is far from uncommon elsewhere in the world, especially in Italy, but American audiences are reluctant to express their displeasure vocally.
...
Is there a kinder, gentler way for an audience to make its displeasure felt? After reflecting on Ms. Zimmerman's tumultuous curtain call, I came up with a substitute that I call "The Silent Boo." Since many theater companies now encourage playgoers to recycle their programs, why not place two transparent recycling containers in the lobby after the show, one marked CHEERS and the other JEERS? That strikes me as a neat and practical method of reaping the benefits of booing while simultaneously minimizing its incivility. Wouldn't your emotional investment in a performance be heightened if you could "vote" on its merits in a simple and convenient manner that was easily visible both to the performers and to your fellow audience members?

Why Not Boo?

I like this suggestion. I'd add that they could darken the sides of these containers to so that people would be less tempted to go with the flow and give the majority opinion. Think of it as moving from a delegate to a secret ballot based voting system. Each container should be big enough to hold unanimous position on the work's quality, and the typical audience member should pass both drop boxes on their way out.

Posted by OneEyedMan at April 17, 2009 6:53 AM

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