I saw 'Beekman' at BAM this weekend. This is a late Ibsen play rewritten by Frank McGuiness. Ibsen is not my favourite playwright since to be honest he just so damn depressing.
However, this production had some laughs in it. Not sure the playwright intended their to be quite so many but since the production had a haze of the Irish about it perhpas the mostly American audience assumed it to be comical.
I have found that in North America (the USA in particular) most audiences are quick to assume. The audiences applaud an entrance even when it's a foreign company that doesn't adhere to that rule and by clapping the audience clearly interrupts the flow of the play. Every audience in the states is always on their feet at the end of the play whether they feel the performance was outstanding or not.
Humour is to be routed out at all costs, found where there is non! Ibsen, even when rewritten by Frank McGuiness, is not a barrel of laughs people!
I wonder how many assumptions we take into our work with clients? How many times have you heard "i just assumed..." Luckily I work with a master of the assumption busters - Kim Quan. She has processes, experience and intuition all around assumption busting. It's like truffle hunting, only more useful.
When I was at University my professor banned the words "just" and "assumed". Try it - see how it changes the work flow and thought processes in your organization.
