Anna in the Tropics

Audience Experience:

When i went to go see Anna in the Tropics on its opening night with my friend Stephanie, we both could sense that there was a little bit of tension and nervousness before the dimming of the lights. The audience was a mixture of adult couples and younger college students both of which i feel had no idea what the play was going to encompass which i feel caused the nervous atmosphere. The audience was very chatty before the play began and even when the lights dimmed and the intro music started playing it took them a little bit to completely go silent which i thought was kind of rude. One thing that shocked me the most though and that is one of my biggest pet peeves when going to a theatre of any sort when there audience is in the dark is when people break out there cell phones during the performance. When they do this it distracts everyone around them and even the audience on the other side of the theatre because they are seeing in their peripherals something illuminate from the darkness and you see the face of some audience member in white light stand out. I had a lady sitting next to me who did this with her phone probably once every six minutes, i should have said something but i didn't want to be disrespectful but it drew my attention away and pulled me out of the play every time she did this. I find this to be so rude that theatres need to start asking people to leaves there phones in their car or just kick that person out if they bring out the phone during the performance with no questions asked because in smaller venues like Anna in the tropics, everyone sees it and can even get distracted by it, even the performers.

When it was time for intermission the audience left the theatre to refresh themselves. I went outside where me and Stephanie started talking about what could possibly happen in the second act, then we were joined by an older couple who i heard talking about how they remember when Tampa used to actually be all cigar factories, so i could tell that the play was connecting with some of the members of the audience. Lights started flickering signalling for everyone to return to their seats. Once inside and seated the atmosphere felt a little anxious because everyone in my section was talking about what might happen in the next act. Once the lights dimmed and the stage lit up and there was Conchita and Juan having a love affair in the factory it kind of caught everyone off guard and there were mixed emotions from the audience. I do not think everyone was prepared for such a scene to happen in a college play, at least i wasn't expecting it myself, and then again i was caught off guard when Ofelia is drunk and alone with Cheche and the scene ends leaving it for the audience to speculate what happened, but i think we all know what happened. When Cheche shot and killed Juan in the factory everyone in the audience jumped in their seats because we were all caught off guard by the loudness of the gun shot that occurred, some people got big eyes and other who jumped started to laugh slightly which i felt was kind of awkward to do at a death scene.

When the play was over the audience didn't do a standing ovation, but the applause was rather loud and the atmosphere was great because people were stuck talking about how shocking the last act was, and how so much happened in such a little amount of time. Outside the theatre everyone shook the cast members hands and congratulated them on their pretty much flawless opening night which is great. On the car ride home we both talked about the play and again act two mainly and how we both were caught off guard, but it wasn't bad because it brought us into the play more and kept the energy high. I feel that with audience conventions as they are now, at this play they were normal and what i would expect from any theatre performance but again the cell phone issue somewhat killed the first act for me, its rude and shouldn't be allowed.