>People used to walk around and chat in the pit in Shakespeare's
>day and old vaudeville and comedia theaters had the audience talking back (and
>sometimes throwing stuff).  As a completely unconfirmed hypothesis, I wonder if
>the Golden Age of Silence began first in the live theater, c. 1850 or so and
>spread to cinema only when sound came in.  Other ideas, confirmations?
>
>Don Larsson, Mankato State U (MN)
 
You should check out a great book, Highbrow/Lowbrow by Lawrence Levine.  He
charts the history of theatre audience behavior in the U.S.  Not directly
relevant to film, but an interesting study still.
 
Also, I know that there is something written out there which examines the
ways which African-American audiences tend to participate while watching
films, but I can't remember the cite at all.
 
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