The Reasonable Audience: A Conversation With Dr Kirsty Sedgman

In this special episode I discuss historic and recent audience behaviour in the Theatre and how that behaviour reflects changes in society, with some particular reference to recent events in society and at some theatrical performances.

Kirsty Sedgman is a theatre academic at the University of Bristol who specialises in studying audiences. She has spent her career studying how we construct and maintain our competing value systems, working out how people can live side by side in the same world yet come to understand it in such totally different ways. The author of On Being Unreasonable: Breaking the Rules and Making Things Better (Faber 2023), she has spoken about her research around the world, and has seen her work featured in outlets like BBC Front Row, the Guardian, and the New York Times.

Links to books by Dr Kirsty Sedgman on Amazon (other retailers are available)

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Being-Unreasonable-Breaking-Making-Things-ebook/dp/B0B4M249LC/ref=sr_1_1?crid=WYQ904L9PAIX&keywords=kirsty+sedgman&qid=1682521965&sprefix=kirsty+sedgman%2Caps%2C82&sr=8-1

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Reasonable-Audience-Etiquette-Performance-Experience-ebook/dp/B07FKHDN77/ref=sr_1_2?crid=WYQ904L9PAIX&keywords=kirsty+sedgman&qid=1682521965&sprefix=kirsty+sedgman%2Caps%2C82&sr=8-2

Link to the Manchester Evening News article on audience disruption at a performance of 'The Bodyguard'

https://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/news/greater-manchester-news/astonishing-moment-audience-member-screams-26658204

Link to Wikipedia article about government advisor Dominic Cummins and his breaking of lockdown rules during the Covid-19 pandemic

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dominic_Cummings_scandal

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This podcast uses the following third-party services for analysis:

Chartable - https://chartable.com/privacy