Rude people in the theatre

Me too. Having the sights, sounds and smells of a stranger chomping on a burger right next to your face is vile even if you were not watching a film. Nowhere else would you be expected to endure a stranger eating within inches of your face.

TBF that’s the cinema’s USP - so it’s more a cinema issue rather than a behavioural issue

I think there’s a massive problem in that front of house staff outside of London are volunteers and the training for how to deal with stuff like this is really lacking.

oh good to know that they are actually doing it in some cases. Was it in London by the way? I think the fact that performers stopped made this happened.
Our local theatre staff doesn’t look very autocratic or/ and gladiatory so I was struggling to imagine them in this situation.

Interestingly, we went to see a little touring circus last night. Small children were quickly hushed by their parents apart from when the clowns were on and I didn’t hear any noise from the adults.

Phones in the theatre drive me to distraction. Last night at the Royal Opera House the man next to me kept checking the time on his phone every five minutes (it was the opera and I think he was bored). The man on the other side of DH kept fidgeting and every time he moved his watch screen kept lighting up. To be fair the ushers were very much on the ball with people and phones but even so.

Like others I find the West End theatres worse than local theatre which is why we tend to stick to going local if possible.

I’ve also given up on the local Everyman cinema as although a nice venue, people seem to order three course meals during the film. All I can hear is chomping, rustling and slurping!

We recently saw War Horse in Cardiff. I counted 30 phones going off, at least. Also - crisps, loud food, littering. Really awful behaviour.

I'm with you, and it's not just theatre either. Since 2007 I have been going to watch an annual sporting event that requires spectators to be silent. Back then if your phone went off you would be thrown out, now you just get a dirty look and told to turn it off. When I first started the audience were silent unless there was some kind of medical emergency. Now I have to deal with people behind me commentating throughout. At the prices we now have to pay it is totally unacceptable.

People’s behaviour has changed and everyone seems totally selfish now. Think it’s happened particularly since social media and phones became commonplace. Not sure why? I have come away from several concerts recently feeling what was the point due to some idiot holding up their phone, blocking my view, so they can instagram/FB it. Or people in cinemas, theatres scrolling/texting on their phones during the show, distracting all with the glare of their screens. Maybe because many people have more of a relationship with their phone than people these days, it’s making people socially handicapped and self centred. Think we now live in an age of entitlement too where people expect to be accommodated by everyone.

Recently we went to see the Villagers play in Halifax Minster which was the most amazing quiet beautiful gig and there were a group of women behind me talking loudly throughout the support. I kept turning around and looking at them but they didn't take any notice so I thought well I'll give you the support if you dare to talk through the Villagers I will say something. Anyway for the first half they were quiet then I think they got bored and started talking loudly again so I just turned around to them and asked them to be quiet which they did actually to be fair to them but I could feel bristling. I was a bit worried about confrontation afterwards tbh. At the end of the gig I got up and one of them came over to me and apologized and said she realized I was right she was wrong and it was really annoying for people to talk through something so lovely. We had a nice chat and parted as new friends.

I absolutely dread having a chatter near me. When the house lights go down, I want to feel completely immersed, and having someone making what they consider to be sage and witty asides to their buddy makes me so on edge I nearly lose it. This last happened at Shakespeare, so nowhere is safe!
Add to that the snap-fizz of opening a can of drink, the buzz of a phone notification and just general bloody fidgeting and my nerves are jangling like crazy.
In the cinema recently I was in front of a couple who seemed to think that any time there was no dialogue was a designated chat break. No amount of stern glares made any difference.

We go to the theatre 20+ times a year and have done for years, and the shift since Covid is shocking. We have completely given up going to any West End/Hippodrome type show because the behaviour is like zoo animals.

Many theatres are still broadly okay (Almeida for example stands out - we’ve never had an audience problem there), but if we want to see a musical we go to Chichester or the Open Air theatre or another theatre that’s a little less high profile. And I’d never see a play on the west end, it’s just too much of a gamble these days.

I don’t really understand it other than behaviour in general has declined. But it’s damned annoying.

I had this at a bill oddie talk 😂 i tapped them on the shoulder and said 'i paid to hear bill not you two' honestly they were outraged lol but did stop talking.

I know there have been issues at the Palace Thatre in Manchester where videos of bad behaviour have gone viral. I wasn’t entirely sure why but now I think I know, alcohol. They now have a system where you can have drinks delivered to your seat, both before the performance and at the interval, which initially I thought was lovely (and it is if you’re not a twat). When we arrived there were awful lot of people with bottles of wine and then at tge interval more bottles of wine generally to tge same people. Thankfully there was only one minor incident (inappropriate shouting) but also there were a large number of people having to get up to use the loo mid performance. I have an overactive bladder so am very careful with my liquid intake at all times but if you’re not able to last a performance without having a loo break during the performance then don’t drink!

I go to the theatre a lot and generally people are will behaved. The worst behaviour is always in things that have either been on TV or one of the actors is vaguely famous. It’s seems to attract people who have no idea how to behave. At the other end of the scale I go to a lot of highbrow music things now because DD is a professional musician. If anyone dares to clap between movements you will be taken out and shot. Worst disturbance in those sort of events are people following the score and using a clip on book light.

I hate it when people rustle packets all the way through. Can’t you sit for 75 mins without eating? If you need the food for medical reasons, then prepare it so you don’t have packet rustling. I complained to the theatre because it went on the whole time. They told me I should have told the staff. This would have meant asking people to move which is just as annoying.
I’ve had people come in late before (drunk) and then sit and talk!
I know staff can’t police everyone, but I’ve seen them pounce the minute someone has a phone out, so why can’t they listen for bad behaviour?

Unfortunately, some people have no idea how to behave in the theatre. No respect for the performers or other audience members. I used to go regularly, but the behaviour has become so bad it’s just not worth the money any more. Last time I went to see Swan Lake, the woman in front of me ate sweets throughout the entire performance, rustling bloody wrappers and chatting to the person next to he. It’s not the bloody cinema!

I’ve given up on the cinema now for all the reasons listed. People really do treat it like an extension of their living room. Even during the day when you’d
expect it to be quiet during Spencer (I was hating the film anyway) two women were just chatting away with abundance.

I haven’t been to the theatre in years but I’m told it’s just as bad so avoid it. Hell is other people.

I hate that people are now allowed to bring drinks into the auditorium. I suppose it's to encourage people to attend, but it's disastrous. If people are that thirsty, go to the bloody pub!

About 30 years ago I saw Othello. Someone right at the front was coughing almost continuously. The actor playing the leading part eventually walked to the front of the stage and shouted "STOP COUGHING!!!" to huge cheers from the audience.

Last week the man behind me at the cinema was eating hot chicken from a tupperware box. I could hear the bones being rattled about over the film.

People think they are in their sitting room and can talk as normal.

I shushed a woman in the cinema who was giving a running commentary to her husband and she was very miffed but did shut up.

Recently the person beside us was sipping from a bottle of fizzy drink. So unscrew it open - drink makes fizz sounds - drink - screw closed. Then literally two minutes later do the same again. And repeat until I think the usher told them to stop.

I find being a teacher and having ‘the teacher voice’ very useful in these circumstances.

I hate having to use it, but I almost always do. People are twats.

My adult DD and I regularly go to music gigs and less frequently to the theatre and cinema. At music gigs and the cinema she always has her phone out. During music gigs she will be filming the performance. She will also be texting and generally browsing.
I find it distracting and embarrassing as it glows brightly and she is sitting next to me. I have asked her not to do this on many occasions but she is addicted to her phone so carries on.
On one occasion around two months ago, at a small intimate music gig the artist actually told her off and asked her to put it away.
I was so pleased. She has never mentioned it, but I am so glad it happened as she doesn't do it any more.

Oh yep had another at a music gig. The singer was doing a slower song and this girl was shouting loudly into her mates boyfriends ear right next to me. So loud o couldn't hear the singer that well. In the end I said to her im trying to listen but all I can hear is you. She then became passive aggressive and was saying things about me but not to me. She did stop eventually