play to the gallery

Cultural  

1. To direct a performance toward less sophisticated tastes; by extension, to attempt to gain approval by crude or obvious means: “The cast of the play was a decidedly mixed bag of youthful method actors and old hams who played to the gallery.”

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play to the gallery Idioms  

1. Appeal to spectators for maximum approval, as in He peppers his speeches with humor and wisecracks about his opponent, clearly playing to the gallery. In this term gallery refers to the cheapest seats in a British theater and hence the least sophisticated audience. [Late 1800s]

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Example Sentences

See Examples For:

play to the gallery

Silva does not pretend to be a great soloist; he does not play to the gallery or for his personal highlights reel.

From New York Times ● Jan. 2, 2019

Carver's condemnation of Newcastle's players may make for compelling viewing and listening, demonstrate searing honesty and play to the gallery of fans, some of whom called the players "cowards" as they boarded the team coach.

From BBC ● May 2, 2015

But he too knows how to play to the gallery.

From Reuters ● Jul. 3, 2013

Richard's enduring appeal lies in how Shakespeare has him play to the gallery – and makes the audience complicit in his determination to "prove a villain".

From The Guardian ● Feb. 21, 2013

I do not mean play to the gallery, for that will have the opposite effect than the one desired.

From The Art of Lawn Tennis by William (Bill) Tatem Tilden