ABSTRACT
This chapter analyses the social dynamics that shape freedoms and restrictions at theater and concert performances. Certainly, many societies have been much more preoccupied with allowing people the freedom to do what they want to when they congregate than in restricting the behavior of people at these gatherings. As with other spheres of social life, a balance exists between the rising trend toward increased control over the behavior of people in theaters and concert halls and the expansion of people's freedoms. The carnival of the Middle Ages was a time when strict hierarchical rank, as well as all restrictions on proper behavior, was temporarily lifted. In addition to political meetings, gatherings, and large-scale events, totalitarian societies also have patriotic overtones in their ordinary plays and films. In a free society, the impact of state power on the behavior of an audience is not as pervasive and draconian as it is in authoritarian and totalitarian states.
