I’ve been going to the theater a lot lately. There’s a phenomenon in theaters that bothers me.
I’m not usually one to give a standing ovation during curtain calls at the end of a show unless I really, really loved it. But I often find that I have to do so anyway, because people in front of me – perhaps right in front of me or several rows in front of me – stand up and applaud, thereby blocking my view of the actors taking their bows. Which means that I, too, have to stand up while continuing to applaud so that I can see the actors, even though I worry that those around me will think I’m one of those people who lacks taste and would probably even stand up after something like Tarzan. (We stayed seated at the end of Tarzan. A point needed to be made.)
I think this is how theater-wide standing ovations happen: via a sort of reverse-domino effect, a few numbskulls near the front of the theater stand up, forcing everyone behind them to stand up, forcing everyone behind them to stand up, and so on. Finally, the rest of the people in the audience stand up because they don’t want to seem like killjoys.
There needs to be a term for such unintentional standing O’s. Perhaps notwithstanding ovation or misunderstanding ovation.
Note to producers: in order to ensure a standing ovation at the end of every performance of your show, just seed the front rows with tall people.
