Shakespeare’s Insight into the Service Industry

Dramaturgy is a concept that was developed by Erving Goffman in his book “The Presentation of Self in Everyday Life”. I was first introduced to it by Dr. Melvyn Fein in class last Tuesday. Either way, it’s much more interesting than the title implies.

Dramaturgy argues that human actions are dependent on the time, place, audience. Essentially, it claims that Shakespeare was correctly when he said “All the world’s a stage, And all the men and women merely players.” What is comes down to is this: what people see when they look at us is exactly the image we are consciously putting on display. We are actors, sometimes disrupted, but generally successful at conforming to the norms of our society.

Furthermore, our dramatic behaviors can be subdivided into two categories: front-stage and backstage behavior. In his book “Peoplization”, Dr. Fein gives a simple example. Your home is generally considered backstage. You are more than welcome to trot about your house in nothing but your underwear. However, if someone were to wring your doorbell, you would not open in the door and greet your visitor wearing only your boxers. You would at least wrap yourself in a robe. Backstage has become front-stage. It’s rather self explanatory.

I find that this principal is especially prevalent in the workplace. My workplace.

Tom is the general manager of Cherokee 16. He is devoted to straight lines, clean carpet, and stainless-steel polished sinks. Therefore, when Tom is around, the floor staff is also dedicated to all things orderly and gleaming. We polish the outside of the nacho warmer and subconsciously sweep. The other day, I found myself scrubbing down telephone receivers and the counters beneath the icee machine. We are also especially kind to the customers, asking them if they would “like to try a combo”. We instantly become the best friend of whoever happens to be working next to us, while making sure that everything is perfect and the customers are happy. He is the front stage, with his entrance comes an audience. We, the actors, perform accordingly.

 However, as soon as Tom shuts the door between the clock-out room and theater 10, everything transforms. The curtain falls, abruptly. We feverishly shove popcorn into our gaping mouths. Between handfuls we comment on Tom’s “backwards comb-over” or perhaps his “anal tendency to scrub everything but the napkins”. We still see to the customers, but they are greeted and served in a terse manner. Our professional behavior, our act quickly evaporates.

Dramaturgy. Sociology. They are surprisingly interesting to observe.