Tomato Plant Girl

As a member of the audience, I stepped into the theater was surprised at the whole look and mood of the set, the three-quarter thrust stage, and the other audience members.

            I was surprised with the painted floor and the crayon-look but thought it was truly quite genius. As I walked in it felt kind of home-like and comfortable. The audience members were quietly talking amongst themselves. Bits of laughter scattered throughout the audience in a small murmur. I noticed about four children squirming around in their seats.  Most of the audience members were adults. I sat down amongst the lively audience, who had probably known each other before they met inside the theater, and waited for the play to start.

The three quarter thrust allowed the audience to see each other and respond with each other’s actions throughout the play.  The small theater space allowed the audience to feel more like a small get together and positively reacted with the set’s props, paint, and lighting to allow a very comfortable, playful, and child-like atmosphere for the children’s play. The fourth wall did not seem to be quite as thick in some of the scenes, which I think is a very wise choice when the play is geared toward children. Children love interaction. They like people to look at them when they talk.

Many different things in the room added to the overall mood of the room, such as the; painted crayon look of the set, the fact that the paint did not quite reach the audience, the bleacher-like theater seats, and the lights that only lit the set. Together, all of these different points of attention let the audience member focus mostly on the set and characters without noticing anything else around them except other audience members.

As I watched the play progress, I particularly payed attention to the children, though few, in the audience. Some children, such as my nephew, get offended easily with someone’s use of a strong intonation because they have a great empathy for the person being criticized. I was curious as to how these children would react toward the Bossy Best Friend of the play.  I noticed one girl specifically who drew very, very, close her mother, or guardian, when the Bossy Best Friend started to act up. I saw her mother (or guardian) try to console her and noticed she might have said something like “that wasn’t a very nice thing to do” when the mean girl was yelling at the nice one.

            From entrance to exit, I noticed a chatty yet subdued atmosphere amongst the audience. We laughed together but we did not become exceedingly loud. Once the play ended and I walked out of the building, I noticed the actors waiting to greet the audience. The children asked questions and wanted to have their pictures taken with them. One girl seemed to be slightly rearing away from the Bossy Best Friend of the story and inching toward the Little Girl. Overall, I was not very surprised by the audience’s reactions once I sat down, but I was surprised at the varied age group when I first entered the theater.