When a play is over but the audience isn't really sure it's over

is that the playwright's fault?  The actors' fault?  The director?

I ask this now because we saw Rajiv Joseph's new play "Guards at the Taj" this weekend, at the Atlantic.  Really enjoyed the show all the way through, then there's a scene that was a bit out of place in context with the show, then the lights went down . . . and it was over.

And no one clapped.  Why?  There were 3 or 4 other scenes that ended with the lights going down and then the show resumed with the sets or costumes or something else changed, and the break was exactly the same.  Actor line, all goes dark, 45-60 seconds later lights up, changes made, show resumes.  But at the end of this, after the lights went off, a few seconds later a few hands clapped, and then the lights went up and the actors came out for their bows and the real ovation began.

I can understand this happening when a show is a mess, but this show was pretty tight, with a compelling story and great acting.  And maybe it's just the last scene that didn't really fit in that raised the expectations that there might be more.

How do you solve this problem?  And what other shows have this problem?

In my experience, there are two separate problems.  When the storytelling in the text seems to resolve multiple times (for me, "The Bridges of Madison County" is a perfect example, when the coda annotating all of the post-liaison turns in the roads seem to meander without a final satisfying end); and, when direction doesn't put a period on the evening.  Sometimes, a good director can minimize the first problem; at other times, a poor director can make a good story feel unfinished.  Musicals that carry over the storytelling into the curtain call are a new and to me bizarre trend.  I find it peculiar when actors have bowed, but resume their characters for final upstage clenches ("Ghost" is one) or other staged business that suggests they are momentarily back inside the people they just played. In pieces that break the 4th wall, this might make a modicum of sense, otherwise it's both arty and rather silly.  It reminds me of the infamous fade-out to "Bad Seed" when the actors playing mother and daughter played out a spanking. It has a strange ability to undercut the power of what we witnessed (well, that was the 50's, which partially explains it).  

Updated On: 5/26/15 at 07:48 AM

How else would you end "Bridges of Madison County" if not with "Always Better", in my opinion a perfect finale, a culmination of themes with a haunting stage picture to boot. 

i saw Guards this evening, whatever issue there was has been fixed because the show ends on a VERY snap your fingers type blackout and it was very clear it was over. 

When I saw Curious Incident, I didn't realize Christopher was actually going to tell us how he solved the math problem. After everyone bowed, I got up and made my way downstairs, and then suddenly Alex Sharp ran back out and I along with a lot of other people were thrown off by it. 

I stood in the aisle of the orchestra and watched as the math problem was solved. 

Updated On: 6/1/15 at 01:23 AM

I saw Guards at the Taj yesterday and it was quite clear when the play was over.