How to Appreciate a Play

Theater, like opera, is one of those art forms that can take some work to truly appreciate. But, once you understand what it is you are looking for, it can be a spellbinding experience. All you really need to enjoy and appreciate a play is an open mind.

Instructions

1. Learn something about the play or the playwright before you see the show. It can help you better understand and appreciate a show if you know when and where it was written and what social pressures existed at the time.

2. Be considerate to your fellow audience members. Don't chat, rustle your program or sigh loudly. You don't have to sit like a stone. If you are uncomfortable, by all means reposition, but don't get up and pace the aisles unless it's an emergency. The point is, theater is a communal experience and no one will have a good time if you or someone else is being a distraction.

3. Be considerate to the actors. They can hear you. They may even be able to see you. You don't have to feign delight and laugh uproariously at every little joke, but do try to be attentive and quiet and if something is funny, do laugh out loud or applaud.

4. Remember that the star of the play and the hero are two different things. The main character may be espousing ideas and ethics that you don't like. Chances are, if the star is saying and doing things that strike you as wrong or evil, the playwright isn't trying to convince you that he's right.

5. Be willing to suspend your disbelief. No, people don't usually spontaneously burst into song and dance on the street or settle gang fights with ballet, but if you are watching a musical, you're just going to have to accept that people will sing and dance for no reason and everyone will know the words.

6. Relax. If you have tickets to a Shakespeare play and you are convinced before the show starts that you won't understand Shakespeare at all--don't worry. Sometimes, just hearing how the words are said is enough to understand what is going on. And it's really more conversational than you would think.

7. Have a post-play wrap up party. Go out for coffee with your group and discuss what you've just seen. It can help to get other people's opinions and interpretations and to offer your own.

Tips & Warnings

• While a great performance will carry, if you really want to see and appreciate a play, get good seats. You'll be miserable if you can't see what's going on.

• Be prepared. Use the restroom before the show starts. You'll be sitting still for a couple of hours in a chair that probably won't be that comfortable. If this is difficult for you, or if you know you won't be able to sit through the whole act, make sure you get an aisle seat.

• Whatever you do, don't answer your cell phone! Not only will you disturb other spectators, but you could also be asked to leave by the ushers.