Other people in the venue

From my field notes on Stories on the Square Decatur:

As it got closer to show time, I saw David talking to people who were sitting at the tables on the stage. They moved and he moved the tables to clear the stage. By show time, I think everyone in the coffee shop was there for Stories on the Square.

I have thought a lot about storytellers and listeners in my considerations of safe space. Occasionally there are people in a venue who are not there for the show. Carapace experienced this at Venkman’s and it sometimes happens at Manuel’s. As uncomfortable as it can be for storytellers to have an unwilling (or uninterested) audience. It must also be uncomfortable for those people who are not there for the show. This example stood out to me because these people literally had to get up and move off the stage.