TURN OFF YOUR CELL PHONE!

For my first post (I've been a bit delinquent), I have decided to discuss performance ettiquite in Russia. So far I can recall two performances from the past two weeks when cell phones did not go off. There have been a number of instances in which multiple people's phones rang, or even a single person's phone rang multiple times. We have also observed a woman talking on her phone during a performance! This last instance was at the performance of K.I. from Crime. You might be wondering if perhaps the "Please turn off all noisemaking electronic devices" announcements we hear at performances in the states don't exist here in Russia. They do. Despite these constant reminders, Marc has told us that Russians are so totally reliant on their phones that many of them can't stand to keep them off for an hour or two. John Freedman talked about this issue some when we met with him after K.I. Amazingly, he told us a number of stories about his fellow theater critics leaving their cell phones on and talking during performances. Despite this contingent of phone lovers, there are many Russians who get annoyed about the phones too.

These are usually the same people who can be heard hissing at fellow audience members who talk through plays or even stomp through the audience to leave in the middle of them. Although these things have not yet resulted in a Boston Pops style fistfight, I wouldn't be all that surprised to see one! The hissers and cell phone shut-offers truly appreciate the performances they see, as is evidenced by the length of curtain calls here. It is not uncommon for the cast to be called back out on stage five or six times before the audience will be totally content. Despite this obvious appreciation for everything we have seen, until last night we had witnessed only a handful of people give standing ovations. Although it was not our group's favorite performance, a large portion of the Russian audience was absolutely thrilled by last night's spectacl, resulting in the largest standing ovation we've seen here yet. Another interesting tendency of the Russian audience is unison clapping. Unlike the states, where everyone claps at their individual tempo, Russian audiences start off that way and gradually adjust until they are all clapping together. I've been meaning to ask Marc if there is significance behind this, although I think it likely that there is. I find it to be an interesting expression of the audience's unified appreciation for an excellent performance, but that's just the way I read it. I'm off now, we're checking out of Godzilla's Hostel in about 30 minutes. Tonight we leave for Novgorod by train on Wednesday we drive from there to St. Petersburg. Until next time!