claquers

A claquers, or claquers, were professional audience members hired to applaud, cheer, or jeer during performances in order to shape public reception. The practice dates from earlier European theatre and became especially associated with Paris and other major European stages in the 18th and 19th centuries, though variants appeared in North America as well. Claques were usually organized into a claque—a managed group that could be employed by impresarios, authors, managers, or rival factions to influence a show’s perceived success or failure.

Claques operated by providing controlled demonstrations of approval or disapproval. They might be paid in cash, gifts, meals, or other incentives, and could sit together or be dispersed among ordinary patrons. Some members were trained to signal the right moments for ovations, or to sustain applause after important lines, while others were assigned to hiss, remain silent, or disrupt during crucial scenes as a form of opposition. The aim was to manufacture momentum, influence critics, and sway public opinion beyond genuine audience response.

The practice attracted controversy and moral critique, seen as a way to manipulate art and commerce, and it exposed tensions between professional promotion and artistic merit. As theatre management evolved, criticism professionalized, and labor and legal norms tightened, the use of claques declined by the late 19th to early 20th century. Today, overtly staged applause is rare, though spontaneous standing ovations and crowd dynamics remain part of theatre, separate from paid incentive groups.