If you’ve created a piece of art and are seeking honest, effective feedback, one simple and phenomenal question to ask is…
“Where did you lean in and where did you lean out?”
The question certainly applies to watching theatre or film. But also with reading any piece of material. Listening to a song. Pretty much any art form.
Another way to think about the question is…
“Where were you engaged and where were you bored?”
As the creator, all you need to hear are those spots, good and bad. You don’t need to hear possible fixes or solutions to the problem. Trust that you and your subconscious will work that out later.
At our old Vs. theatre space, one thing I really loved is that the audience sat in old, wooden, straight-backed chairs. It was only 28 seats (Grotowski famously said he never trusted theatre over 30 seats) and very intimate. If you started hearing a lot of squeaky chairs, you knew the audience was restless. They were leaning out. If you heard quiet, they were still. On the edge of their seats. Leaning in.
No better feedback than that.
The Vs. Studio Blog 