Life — June 11, 1903 — page 15: what you’re looking at

What you’re looking at

This is a theatrical backstage scene satirizing a play's poor reception. A nervous author (left, in striped shirt and vest) asks the Stage Manager what to do when the audience calls for him. The Stage Manager's blunt advice—to flee out the back door "as quick as you can"—suggests the play is a disaster and the author should escape before facing an angry or disappointed audience. The humor lies in the frank acknowledgment that calling for "the author" traditionally signals either triumph or, as implied here, catastrophic failure. Rather than take a bow, the author should literally run away. This reflects the unpredictable and sometimes brutal nature of theater criticism and audience reception in the early 20th century.