Everything Needs A Little Organization
I learned a semi-important lesson about injecting a little organization into seemingly low key events. We had a large group make an advance request to meet the cast of our current production after the performance. The group organizer didn’t think the older people would want to interact with the case, but was pretty sure the kids in their group would want to. I talked to the director and between us made all the required arrangements with the cast.

Essentially, the plan was to have the group come down to the edge of the stage after the show and the cast would come out to talk with them. We were open to any other members of the audience coming down to speak with the cast as well but didn’t announce the opportunity.

Before the show the group leader came to me again and double checked that their group could meet with the cast. She told me how keen they were to meet the cast. I went backstage and verified the arrangements with the director and stage manager.

Come, Talk To Us!
Well come the end of the show, the cast came out and some people came down to talk with them but most hung back and talked with other friends in their group. The cast had come out prepared to answer questions about the production and ready to interact with young people and were disappointed that the interest wasn’t as advertised.

I began to suspect that perhaps the group leader and a few others were excited at the idea of their young people meeting the cast but hadn’t actually measured or cultivated any interest in the kids. Nor did they really encourage people to come forward. It seemed the group leader was happy with the experience because those who wanted to talk and get autographs had the opportunity to do so.

My thought is that I should have talked to the group leader a little more to learn what she expected and to express how we envisioned the encounter taking place. With kids involved we obviously desired something more spontaneous than a “raise your hand Q&A” but still wanted some effort expended to corral people in our direction.

Questions Are The Hardest Part
Ultimately, I think the whole concept of a Q&A with audiences may be flawed. The majority of the time it the experience seems to be a disappointment for the artists involved. The source of this disappointment seems to be the questions being asked which tend to revolve around the basic discipline any performer must cultivate; things like how they remember all their lines or movements.

The source of this problem is that people generally don’t know what to ask. You can probably trace this all the way back to the lack of arts education in the schools without too much effort if you had a mind to. It is a matter of lack of exposure and understanding about the process. Audiences ask how long people rehearsed. Performers are dying to talk about how things evolved and were decided over the rehearsal process.

Why Does That Sound So Familiar?
Unfortunately, that conversation often has no meaning for audiences. In a Q&A for a Shakespearean play, an actor remarked that the choice was made to perform the show in the standard North American dialect. Even though the patron had just heard it for a couple hours, she asked the actor to say something in the dialect and was rather disappointed at how unremarkable it was not comprehending that the “standard” label referred to how common it is to hear people speaking that manner.

We Will Answer Your Questions…
One of the easiest steps to take would be to list possible discussion questions in the playbill for people to ponder while they watch the performance. Of course, there is no guarantee people will read that part of the playbill or will think at all. I have seen a couple theatres include these questions in their programs. I only remember attending Q&A sessions at one place. It didn’t eliminate questions about learning lines but the quality of questions seemed higher. I can’t say if it was a result of the discussion prompts or the general quality of the audience members being better than at other places.

Perhaps one of the elements integral to making people feel more involved with performances is really, really, really pushing them to ask questions. This means having someone with answers. Given that designers and directors move on after a show has opened, stage managers, actors and technicians are busy wrapping up after the performance any not always available, this may mean having a separate person with an intimate knowledge of the performance available in the theatre or lobby immediately after the show to fulfill patrons’ desire of instant gratification.

..But Please Don’t Text During the Show
They may also be tasked with answering questions via online forums later as people digest what they have seen. Or perhaps they are following up with answers to questions they didn’t know the night before. They may even end up fielding text messages during a performance. Not the ideal situation from the performer’s point of view, but perhaps highly valued by the patron.