Ok, the truth is – and I feel like I am in the minority on this point – I LIKE post-show talkbacks. The magic of our particular medium is the live audience; the dialog that exists in the room between players and playgoers. We often describe them as being the final, most important ingredient in the creative process, and I enjoy talkbacks as a natural extension of that. They are both gratifying and instructive.
Why do many actors consider them a chore, or an unfulfilling obligation? Why are they often regarded as an awkward and tedious obligation? Well, that’s because many of them are! Theatre companies add them to the performance schedule as a selling point, but they are rarely organized with any true intent. No theme for the conversation is introduced. The format of the event is ill-defined. Actors are given no guidance on how to approach the interaction.
There are two primary guiding principles: A talk-back should feature as part of the “entertainment” package being offered to the audience, and it should ideally be a kind of conversation.
With that in mind, here are some ideas towards achieving that end:
1. Have a moderator!
An ideal moderator has seen the production, is familiar with the play, perhaps is acquainted with the cast and crew, and can function as a conduit for the audience to address the actors, but ALSO as a representative for the actors to respond to the audience. The best moderators will deftly act as a gentle filter for both sides of the conversation without making themselves the focus either way. Company Dramaturgs are often the ideal person for this, but I’ve also seen great talkbacks where one of the actors in the cast had been asked to fill this role.
2. Have questions prepared!
Sometimes an audience is shy, and they need some icebreakers. Regardless, it’s quite useful for the moderator to be armed with three or four prepared questions to set the tone and get the conversation moving. And these don’t need to be questions only for the actors! Interviewing the audience can spark great dialog as well. Giving both groups in the room a chance to participate is a great way to foster healthy conversation. (*You get bonus points for having a few different prepared questions for multiple talkbacks in the same run.)
3. Get the actors back out onstage quickly!
Change out of costume, dress, and get back on stage as quickly as you are able. Everyone is sitting and waiting for you, and not only the audience, your fellow actors will be waiting, as well. Keep in mind, the talk-back is part of the show, and forcing the audience to wait only mutes the energy and momentum you’ve earned to that point. (*Once again, you get bonus points for polling the cast ahead of time, so the moderator will know exactly when everyone is present and can begin.)
4. Everybody Talks!
If an actor makes the effort to go out for a talkback, make sure that they get a chance to speak. It’s deflating to be ignored. Even if the audience becomes fixated on a single performer, the moderator and actors should be conscious of the opportunity to redistribute questions to everyone who is present.
5. Be brief!
Yes, when improvising answers to personal questions, it is easy for our introspection to ramble (I am certain guilty of this in life), but try to guard against it. Most talk-backs are scheduled for no more than 15 to 20 minutes following a show, and that’s not a great deal of time. So, be honest, be meaningful, but be concise. It is also rarely necessary for multiple actors to weigh in with a different answer to the same question. The VERY important result of this will be that more members of the audience will have time to ask their own questions. Remember how uncomfortable it is to be cornered by that one guest at a party who talks over you, and monologues about their life without asking about you or giving you a chance to speak.
6. Go for the jokes!
Be silly! Be self-effacing! Poke fun at yourselves! A spoonful of levity always puts everyone at ease, generates more conversation, and cements the audience’s fondness for the play, the theatre, and the actors themselves. All very useful things.
7. There is nothing wrong with the cliché questions!
It’s fine if the audience asks you one of the old standbys – but the trick is not dwell long on the answer, either. Think of them more as gateways to better questions. In the same way that people who don’t know each other well initiate conversation by talking about the weather. It’s a useful starting point that gets the ball rolling to deeper thoughts.
8. Yes/And your compliments!
Just like the clichés, (though perhaps slightly more welcome), the compliments-instead-of-questions are a fine opportunity for the panelists to say thank you - and then - redirect the topic towards a related conversation point. Especially if the redirect includes an effort to salute the work of creators who are NOT on stage with you, like directors, stage managers, designers, writers, or theatre staff.
9. Resist telling an audience what to think about the play – even if they ask
I admit, this is a personal belief, but nevertheless, my belief is this: We have a responsibility as caretakers of the art, not to tell an audience how to think about the art. As the artists involved, any statements we make about our own personal interpretation will carry a powerful weight of influence in the audiences’ personal interpretations. This is not necessarily wrong, but consider that it might be in better service of the art to gently withhold that influence. Remember too, that it may be difficult or impossible for you to speak for the intentions of the director, the playwright, or the designers. Perhaps it is better to turn the question back around to the audience and ask them to offer their own answer. That is, after all, the intended effect of playgoing itself.
And that’s it! A shorthand guide to the eloquent etiquette of the talk-back experience. And no, it’s not an accident that every one of these rules perfectly applies to your next dinner party conversation as well - minus the need to fret about that spot of spinach lurking between your two front teeth. ;)
Photo by Linda Johnson