I liked your behavioral analysis of standing ovations. To add to the conversation, I can tell you that I have learned that Americans are pretty generous with standing O’s, although they typically unfold in the awkward slow wave pattern you describe. But living in Ireland I was surprised to see that they don’t really happen there. Or at least I never was present for one, despite going to the theatre at least once a month. Maybe Irish performance standards are terribly high, or maybe the population is low on the kind of people who bravely begin standing ovations. (Don’t you feel embarrassed for those small unlucky knots of people who never recruit anyone else, as they forcibly smile and clap, fully aware of the breezy open air all around them?)

Anyway, I always thought that visiting American theatre companies should be given a little primer on Irish audience behavior, just to make sure that the rather short and quieter Irish clapping reception at the end did not crush the performers’ egos.