There is no mystery about why theater audiences are gray-haired, and many younger people don’t attend (“Phantom of the theater: Audience is getting older,” Page A1, June 17).
They are the same reasons that younger people don’t read newspapers, a trend that certainly can’t be attributed to the cost.
Starting with children who were raised with prolonged television viewing instead of reading, continuing through their inadequate education lacking enforced reading of the classic literature of various eras, and culminating with their immersion in the now ever-present Internet, it’s no wonder the potential future theater audience has been decimated.
Theatergoing requires an extended period of concentration and an understanding of where the playwright is coming from and what he or she is trying to convey.
Young people routinely spend $60 to $100 to see rock shows with their glitzy fast-changing lighting effects, where they can express their approval by going “Whoo-whoo.” They are never going to become regular theatergoers — or read newspapers.