Standing Ovations are now de rigeur in the theater. They used to be rare, awarded only to extraordinary performances. In straight (non-musical) plays, especially, the highest compliment audiences could pay would be to sit pinned in their seats by the power of the experience they’d had. I can remember a number of occasions when not only did I not want to get out of my seat, I didn’t want to talk to anyone until I had shaken off the effect of what I had seen. No longer — you don’t get the chance. The audience is on its feet even before the first bow, no matter how limp or shallow the piece. They are, of course, giving the ovation to themselves for having been part of a participatory experience rather than a passive one, and for having spent their time and money on it. They’re reminding themselves that they’re alive. Which is not a bad thing, but which makes the extraordinary ordinary.