Boring an audience is the one true sin in theatre. We’ve been boring audiences for decades now, and they’ve responded by slowly withdrawing their patronage.
This article is from a couple of years ago but is quite relevant to what’s happening in theatre right now. Playwright Anthony Neilson writes about the next movement in theatre, which above everything must not be boring. He also talks about the need for good storytelling, a suspicion for overly poetic language and the dismaying fact that people think they ‘should’ go to the theatre instead of ‘want’ to go to the theatre. That there is some educational element to it.
And I give a rousing standing ovation to his last thoughts on what the theatre can offer an audience in terms of spectacle.
