It begins with the preshow eating and drinking right at the theater. I know for a fact that you don’t do that at Broadway theaters. With outdoor seating and a bar at almost every theater we’ve been to here, it gives the audience time to settle and relax before the show. It gives them time to unite as a whole. The outdoor seating area is lively and glitters with laughter. It gives everyone a chance to just be. To exist together.
After the show, it is typical to see many people hanging around. Often they sit and talk more. Some get a beer. Some get a snack. Staying after a show is never a custom I have seen in the US. I think we could benefit from it. It allows the audience to stay in dialogue with what they just saw instead of rushing off to the next thing. It keeps up that sense of community for just a little longer. It fills the night air with life. The space, the audience, and the show are all connected as one through this. And how lovely is that? You don’t need to rush off worrying about where you’ll eat dinner. You have the chance to share more than surface level thoughts on the performance. Heck, you might even run into an ensemble member.
Even the fact that most theaters are ensemble based creates this idea of family and community that is so warming to see in German theater. You work with the same people at the same place and you get to create this bind. An ensemble is comforting and secure.
The place that embodies this most for me is Schaubühne. We just saw our last show there last night. And that fact broke my heart a little bit. I have never felt so connected to the theater space in my life. It was so inviting there and so refreshing to see how alive it was. So, thank you Schaubühne for opening my eyes and my heart to a new way of experiencing theater. I’ll mjss you.
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