Theatre Audiences: A Theory of Production and Reception (Paperback)

~ (Author) "Two somewhat different spheres of cultural activity form the starting points for my own theorizing..." (more)
Key Phrases: fictional stage world, intercultural theatre, oppositional theatre, New York, Los Angeles, Doll's House (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Review

Bennett's book is enormously useful and compelling.
–Jill Dolan, Theatre Journal

Bennetts book is enormously useful and compelling.
–Jill Dolan, Theatre Journal

Product Description

Susan Bennett's highly successful Theatre Audiences is a unique full-length study of the audience as cultural phenomenon. It considers both theories of spectatorship and the practices of different theatres and their audiences. Published here in a new updated edition, Theatre Audiences now includes a new preface by the author, a new chapter on intercultural theatre, a revised conclusion encompassing the influences of cultural materialism and psychoanalysis on audience theory, as well as an updated bibliography. A must for anyone interested in spectatorship and theatre audiences.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 264 pages
• Publisher: Routledge; 2 edition (October 29, 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0415157234
• ISBN-13: 978-0415157230
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.2 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #801,391 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4.0 out of 5 stars A good study of the most important aspect of theater, May 7, 2009

By	Semih (New York, USA) - See all my reviews

Ms. Bennett has written a fairly lengthy book about reception in theater. It is a rarely visited but extremely important aspect of this art form. It is quite possible to claim that all failures in theater are due to misjudgements and miscalculations by the producers and performers about the receivers of the production. All forms of theater communicate and to be understood, just like in any linguistic utterance, one has to be aware of the "languages" known by one's audience. Ms. Bennett brings this fact to light through a comprehensive scanning of the history of performer-audience relationship in modern theater and refers to major theories about her subject matter.

My criticism: First, I think the book could be organized in a better way. She could have followed some thread, either chronological or conceptual. Second, the author has excessively referred to marginal avant-garde experiments which (unfortunately) haven't had any major impact on the broader theatrical scene. Third, I expected to find much more about the phenomena of communication, perception, interpretation (i.e. semiotics, pragmatics, decoding, sociological frames, etc) but she travels mostly on the surface regarding such matters. Fourth, the role and treatment of audience in modern theater is applicable to almost all forms of performing arts, including dance and music, but she confines her analysis strictly to modern theater.