Not bowing after a performance?
Tue, 26 Aug 2008, 01:03 amLouisa Fitzhardinge27 posts in thread
Not bowing after a performance?
Tue, 26 Aug 2008, 01:03 amWould you consider leaving the traditional bows out of the end of a piece of theatre?
Have you seen or been involved in a production that has opted to end the show at curtain down?
I've just arrived home from the tech run of SIX (a UDS production; we open on Thursday) where we had a bit of a heated discussion over bows, and whether or not they are necessary/desirable for a play. I think, as an audience member, I'd feel a bit disgruntled if everyone was clapping for minutes on end and the bows just never came. It's expected. Especially in Perth, especially for community theatre, when half the audience is the actors' friends and family. And as an actor, it just seems a bit pretentious and ungrateful not to.
Audience: "You guys were great!"
Actor: "Whatever; shut up. Theatre is an expression of meaning, not an opportunity to bathe in kudos. You clearly don't understand."
Plus it gives an opportunity to thank the SM, lighting crew, sound crew etc...
So what do you reckon? Are curtain calls archaic, pointless and vain? Does it break the tone of the ending of a play if everyone comes on and bows afterwards? Or do they bring the play to a proper end and connect the actors with the audience?
(Of course I don't mean massive Broadway-style choreographed bows... just an ensemble cast taking one bow, applauding to the box and applauding to the wings).
Your right Philmac it did
Thu, 28 Aug 2008, 02:22 pmYour right Philmac it did come about because of the "biograph' projector & where it was housed.
The company that developed it, grew out of the Mutograph ["what the butler saw" viewers] picture card animation.
The natural place to display moving pictures was from the balcony of theatres. Which was more accommodating than the local town halls & Assembly rooms. So a box was gaffed up hurriedly & erected for the projector in theatres. Thus spawned the 'Bio box' which came into it's own, with the advent of rock 'n roll & electronics, also lighting/audio control becoming smaller & more portable.
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