The case of audience held hostage in the dark: Ralph Cohen at TEDxCharlottesville 2013
Ambient attention, defined by the audience engaging in activities other than solely watching, is argued to be vital for theater because it provides actors with the critical signals needed to feel "earned attention." This is illustrated by historical images of audiences at plays, where people engaged in various activities, contrasted with modern theater experiences often lacking this visible engagement. The speaker recommends restoring the theatrical experience by ensuring the lights stay on, allowing actors and audiences to interact. ## Speakers & Context - Unnamed speaker, presenting at a beautiful theater in Charlottesville. - Frames the current situation as one of "technological chauvinism" that has diminished the nature of theater. - Observes the relationship between the theater, the audience, and the performer, focusing on the "case of the audience held hostage in the dark for 23 centuries." ## Theses & Positions - The natural state of theater for 23 centuries required three elements: a script, an actor, and an audience. - *Ambient attention*—where the audience does things other than strictly watching the play (talking, looking around, socializing)—is inherently good for both the audience and the performance. - Ambient attention is the precondition for an actor to feel *earned attention* because it allows the audience to provide a "multitude of signals about their work." - The historical shift to darkness for cinema caused audiences to forget the pleasures of the physical playhouse environment. - The solution is to remember what theater can be, learn from the past, and use technology to make actors and audiences *present to one another* by keeping the lights on. ## Concepts & Definitions - **Ambient attention:** Audience engagement where people are doing something besides watching the play (e.g., talking, looking around, socializing). - **Earned attention:** Attention an actor receives from the visible audience, derived from their own work, not from a spotlight. - **Technological chauvinism:** The mindset that has blinded people to the nature of theater due to technological shifts. ## Mechanisms & Processes - **The role of ambient attention:** It gives the actor agency by providing visible feedback—it both "rebukes and rewards." - **Reading audience signals:** Actors can learn to read signals like "looking elsewhere," "reading programs," "texting," or "trying to see" from a visible audience. - **The mechanism of theatrical performance:** Visibility of the audience allows actors to communicate through subtle cues, leading to a deeper level of connection than an invisible audience permits. - **Historical change:** The transition from the theater to the movie involved being taken "hostage in the dark." ## Timeline & Sequence - **23 centuries:** The established natural period for theater, requiring three elements (script, actor, audience). - **118 years ago:** Period when the lights were turned out on audiences, causing a loss in the nature of theater. - **1890s:** Mentioned historical footage of the audience at the Drury Lane theater in London. - **1881:** Year the first electric lights were installed in the Savoy theater in London. - **1895:** Year two Frenchmen "took the audience hostage in the dark" by moving audiences to cinema. ## Named Entities - **Charlottesville:** Location where the talk is being given. - **Drury Lane theater:** Specific theater location mentioned in historical images. - **American Shakespeare Center's Blackfriars playhouse in Stanton:** Specific theater location highlighted. - **Savoy theater:** Location in London where the first electric lights were installed. - **Euripides, Shakespeare, Lopez de Vega, Moliere:** Playwrights whose theaters are cited as examples of what modern theater should emulate. ## Examples & Cases - **Hogarth painting of the beggar's opera:** Used to illustrate ambient attention, showing visible patterns of focus using circles and arrows. - **Blackfriars playhouse observation:** Examples of modern ambient attention, such as a woman picking her nails or texting. - **Performance examples:** Scenes from *Much Ado About Nothing* (Beatrice confronting two women), *King Lear* (holding dead daughter), and a Shakespeare scene with Falstaff, all used to demonstrate the difference between visible and invisible audience reactions. ## Tools, Tech & Products - **Electric lights:** First installed in the Savoy theater in London (1881). - **Movies:** The technological medium that forced the adoption of darkness for viewing. - **Binoculars:** Tool used by gentleman A in the historical images. ## Trade-offs & Alternatives - **Theater with audience visible (lights on):** Allows for *ambient attention* and signals that enhance the art. - **Theater without audience visible (dark/movie):** Risks making actors mistake silence for boredom, forcing them to "ham it up." - **Film vs. Live Performance:** The trade-off between the controlled, contained darkness of the cinema versus the unpredictable, illuminated space of the playhouse. ## Counterarguments & Caveats - The premise that ambient attention is "good" might seem contradictory to the expectation of pure focus. - The implication that the theaters of the great playwrights (Euripides, etc.) are "quaint" is dismissed by the speaker. ## Conclusions & Recommendations - To rescue theater, one must remember its inherent pleasures and the power of theatrical imagination. - The method to achieve this is to use technology to keep actors and audiences "present to one another" by ensuring the lights stay on. - The final recommendation is to return to the physical, lit performance space. ## Verbatim Moments - *"This room represents both the crime and the criminal and what i am calling the case of the audience held hostage in the dark for 23 centuries."* - *"here are the three things you needed for a play a script an actor and an audience."* - *"this is what i call ambient attention."* - *"ambient attention is actually a good thing not only fun for the audience but also good for the show."* - *"the pleasure of knowing that the actors know you were there."* - *"the pleasure of using your own imagination to help create the show."* - *"We go back to the future we do it with the lights on."*