In the last few years, I have had the good fortune to perform across India and some parts of the world. However, wherever you go, audiences can be divided into two kinds.
The first is your regular audience; who come to watch a particular play that is running at a particular theatre. There is a certain distance with which they watch the opening five minutes; trying to figure out if this going to be an evening well spent or not. They grudgingly get involved in the programme. But once absorbed are very responsive to what is offered.

The other is the Festival Audience. From a performer’s point of view, there is something special about performing at a theatre festival. The audience is always a lot more expressive and the over all enjoyment of the experience is greater.
This might be because the whole idea of a festival is to put numerous plays back to back to back. Audience flock to the community at large. And not just to see a particular play or group.
Recently, we performed at two festivals. One was the NSD Bharat Rang Mahotsav. This is the biggest festival in the country, spread around eight performance spaces with shows from all over the country and the world. This is truly a performer’s festival. Tickets sell out within ten minutes of the box office opening. And the array of work on display is mind-boggling. The plays are the ‘thing’. Everything revolves around making the show go on. And there is a wonderful energy of everyone working on your show, from the polish-wallah to the carpenter to the technical assistants, and even the audience.
This week we also performed at the Kala Ghoda Arts Festival (KGAF); Here the play is not the main focus; theatre is only one of numerous events such as art, dance, poetry, etc. There is so much else going on. And on a Monday night we didn’t expect too much of an audience. Yet it was full. The audience were very giving. They seemed to have come to enjoy the evening, no matter what was on offer. A typical Festival Audience.
This generosity can be attributed to a few reasons: Festival shows are far more publicised than regular shows. A buzz about the performances is created weeks in advance. People know about shows, mark their calendars and flock to the plays. They look forward to this week or ten day period. Maybe even apply for leave accordingly.
It could also be the fact that festivals such as the KGAF, Celebrate Bandra or even BRM are all community activities. They are created to provide interactions with art for the community at large. Therefore tickets are either free (like Celebrate Bandra or KGAF) or incredibly subsidised like BRM. People are perhaps more open to work they haven’t paid for. There is less of a commercial “is this worth my time and money” quotient, and more of a “what a wonderful way to spend the evening”.
The third and most striking factor for the generosity of an audience is probably because festivals by and large are a celebration of something. Forget their daily lives. The décor, the installations, the music, the atmosphere are all uplifting.
Therefore when an audience member walks into a performance s/he has been soothed by that “Festival Feeling” and is in a better frame of mind to enjoy the play.
Theatre is a live medium. The audience has an active role in the performance. Depending on their response, the enjoyment of the play increases.

Maybe that’s why some of the best shows I’ve watched have happened at festivals.