There are a lot of books out there about stars, about movies, about directors, writers, designers and all the people whose work you see on the stage, screen and playing field. What they all miss is the most important collaborator of all: the audience.

When you sit down at a play or a movie or a concert—or even in front of the TV in your own home—you are taking part in one of the oldest and most mysterious forms of group human behavior. Right This Way: A History of the Audience is longtime Playbill editor Robert Viagas’ pop history of audiences through the ages, packed with popular culture references.

The lecture sheds light on fascinating stories from the past and issues that shape our lives today—everything from the ancient Greeks, the audience that saw Abraham Lincoln assassinated, the history of booing, the appeal of horror movies, the group reaction at sports events, right up to binge-watching Netflix.

Everyone has been a part of an audience at one time or another. They probably never realized how important the audience experience is to human psychology and wellbeing. The COVID-19 pandemic took the live audience experience away from us for a time, making it all the more precious. Right This Way: A History of the Audience explores what the audience experience brings us, what it is good for and how it may evolve in the 2020s.

The audience experience meets a deep need in all people. Right This Way: A History of the Audience tells how and why.