26th January, 2009 - 10 Things I Love About the Theatre #3

The third thing that I love about the theatre is putting on a bad show. This seems like an odd thing to say, because no-one wants to put on a stinker. No-one starts work with that in mind.

However, the curious thing about it is that a real stinker pulls the cast together in a curious kind of way. If the show is not a hit with the audience, oddly the cast seems to pull tighter together. There is a slightly peculiar “us against them” things happens with the audience. I was first taught this by a great pal of mine who is a musical director. I was directing a show and he was doing the music for it. At half time during one performance (which was going down like a lead balloon) he rushed up tot eh stage. He insisted that the whole cast congregate on the stage behind the curtain. I imagine that the cast thought they were in for a roasting of some sort, but instead he insisted that the whole cast give a two fingered salute to the audience lurking behind the curtain.

That has stayed with me. Time and time again, shows that are slightly below par, seem to be the one where you make the best friends, or have the best laughs. There is probably some kind of moral there, but I haven’t worked it out yet.