Shock

Something I’ve noticed a lot during the run of PROOF and after recent productions including COLLISION and THE RETURN: seeing the look of shock on people’s faces after the show. People are startled that the show has connected with them so powerfully. I can only assume this is because people have got so used to being bored when they visit the theatre that they appear to be startled when they find themselves genuinely gripped or moved. (Even our shows for children generate the same reaction: KENSUKE’S KINGDOM often leaves the adults in tears. So many people have remarked on this that I can only guess it must be happening very rarely). When did theatre become so boring? I can’t imagine people being bored in The Globe, so what has happened in the intervening 400 years?