When an audience laughs at the wrong moments, whose fault is it?

So the other night I saw Cat on a Hot Tin Roof. Probably the worst audience experience I've ever had because people were still coming in twenty minutes after the show started and were not being quiet about it, and the audience as a whole talked through the whole show.

But the one thing I've been really thinking about is how everyone kept laughing at all the inappropriate moments, like when Brick is limping around trying to hit Maggie with his crutch. Whose fault is it when stuff like that happens: is it the production's fault or the audience's?

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I saw the show last night, and I thought the SAME things.

I don't think it was the production's fault that people were laughing at those times. I think it was the audience.

It is never the audiences "fault" for having an honest reaction to anything that happens on stage. If the humor was not intended by the director it is his/her or the actor's "fault". Don't blame the audience for reacting sincerely to what you put on the stage.

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I would say if the audience is laughing at something serious, then something went wrong with the writing or the delivery or something. It's not the audience's fault.

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Blame Canada.

When I saw the revival of Into the Woods (I've told this story before), someone laughed when they announced the death of The Baker's Wife. I don't know who to blame for that. And don't say Vanessa Williams cuz she was out that day.

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It depends on what moment you're talking about...in the case of CAT, it's obviously not Williams' fault (it's one of the best plays of all time), I didn't think it was the actors' faults, Allen could be credited a bit for staging it a bit too much like a sitcom, but 90% of my blame for the audience's reactions goes to ... the audience. They just seemed like they were sitting in on a shooting for "Saturday Night Live" laughing and talking and joking throughout...it was one of the rudest and most irritating audiences I've ever sat with in a theater to be quite honest. I think most of the audience was so thrilled to see Terrence Howard, Rashad, and Jones on the same stage that they were giddy and expecting Rashad to break out into a scene from The Cosby Show or something...they just didn't get that these actors were playing characters other than themselves. I know that sounds odd but I don't think I can articulate it any better.

And I mean, also, with the perfection that is the current revival of GYPSY, both times I saw it, stupid tourists burst out laughing at things that were NOT funny in any way and when they realized no one else was laughing, they did not stop screaming like hyenas. Some audience members are just plain stupid.

Updated On: 6/21/08 at 05:48 PM

It's Debbie Allen's fault.

This has been happening the entire run of the show, as I understand, and its clearly the fault of the production. (Unless, of course, that was the intended effect, in which case it is nobody's fault.)

Last fall I saw a local production of West Side Story, and to put it nicely, it left a lot to be desired. During the scene when Chino runs in to shoot Tony the crowd erupted with laughter over the very poor acting and lack of fitness of the man playing Chino. It was more than just a giggle, and you could tell it really distracted the performers.

I'm sorry to disagree with the basic premise of this thread, but in my book there is nothing wrong with some light laughter when Brick is limping and chasing Maggie with his crutch. It happens in most productions of "Cat" and relieves a little tension. Now if people are slapping their thighs and screaming with laughter -- THEN you have a problem. Too often people think that a serious play has no place for laughter.

Agreed, a lot of people laugh out of nervousness. If something is very uncomfortable and awkward for an audience member they'll usually laugh. I remember many times during "Grapes of Wrath" when the audience would laugh at the end of the play where Rose of Sharon is breast feeding the dying man.

I think most directors and actors would prefer an audience laughing at an inappropriate time rather than an audience not laughing at something that is supposed to be funny.

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Hillary's.

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