Rude people in the theatre

Even in dc school productions parents are disruptive- when my eldest was young a crying baby would be shushed or taken to the back but now the parents sit chatting away and ignoring running toddlers - feel sorry for all the children that have tried so hard to learn their lines.
on another note I had a friend that chatted all through a theatre performance ignoring my shushes and the fact that I refused to answer her - didn’t go with her again

Cinemas are struggling as it is. They need to make money and selling drinks/snacks is the main way after ticket sells.
Someone on my FB went to the flicks recently ad said a bag of Maltesers and a fizzy drink cost them £11!

I sat next to a couple who were talking/ filming etc a few months back.

You see, if someone sitting next to me is talking, then I tell them to be quiet straightaway. I am firm about it, and I'm probably not very polite. But then I'm not the one being impolite in the first place.

I've been going to the theatre since I was about 7; it's actually part of my job, and I won't put up with such rudeness.

I tend to stick to the National Theatre.
All their tickets are under £100 and many far less.
I sat next to a couple who were talking/ filming etc a few months back.
I complained in the interval. They said they’d already had a few complaints. They would be monitoring the couple and intervene if it happened again.
it did and a woman wearing headphones came down and told them in no uncertain tones to switch their phones off.
They did.

Mostly very well behaved audience but i do remember a man who tapped along to all the music in Swan Lake on the railing. It seemed like a showing off thing, to show he knew the music. Very irritating!

Oh but it is hard if you know the music. I really have to control myself at some ballets where I've learned the rep/choreography at some point. And stop myself from tapping fingers or feet in time to the music. I do try not to do this as I know how irritating it is. And I do have to stop myself from counting the 32 fouettés in the Odile solo in Swan Lake ...

It's hard with music or choreography you know. But necessary to control oneself, I know.

I disagree with a PP who said filming or watching a rock concert via your phone is OK> I really hate it when I'm in the front standing area watching a band and all the (tall) men are holding their phones up. I want to see the band, LIVE. People have forgotten about just experiencing the moment.

People are just so ignorant. And greedy! The gobbling of hordes of junk is disgusting. Had a family with a large group of girls (party I suppose) sitting behind me at Lion, Witch and Wardrobe recently. There wasn't a single moment of silence for the entire first half, I've never heard such constant and very loud rustling and eating. Second half was less rustling, more chatting. Parents did exactly nothing. My children know better than to make any noise during the performance. They can eat a treat at the interval. There is simply no need to stuff their faces throughout a performance. I have second hand embarrassment at the greed on display at theatres these days. Once had a couple with a toddler at an evening performance of Swan Lake. The toddler started a kind of moan/whine/cry about 15 mins in and that went on for the entire first act, at which point they left. Felt sorry for the child as it was late and they were obviously tired. But also felt sorry for all of us who had paid a lot of money for ballet tickets. As for indiscriminate phone use, I despair. Swan Lake at the Royal Albert Hall not so long ago, the ushers were up and down the aisles like yo yos telling people to switch off, it was non stop. So distracting.

Good for you

I agree and wish that people were ejected more often. .. from the cinema too. I’ve never understood why people need huge drinks and massive snacks during a (generally 2 hour max) film. Tho I do remember several years ago taking kids to the cinema with a friend and we agreed I’d pay for the tickets and she’d pay for the kids snacks; her bill was much bigger than mine.

@Katrinawaves was also at the Apollo watching Punch. Friday night. Lady in front constantly on her phone, kept it on her lap throughout, first half. Light coming off it was really distracting. During the interval I asked her if she could put it away. She did, with a fair amount of eye rolling.

We used to benefit from what was then called Mousetrap - a charity to bring live theatre to disadvantaged groups (it still exists but under a different name). My daughter qualified due to her disability, but we were used to theatre-going, but they were used to dealing with families who weren't, and they sent out a booklet to explain what to expect, and what to do behaviour wise during the shows.

This was maybe 10 to 15 years ago. Everyone behaved impeccably, though I was a bit surprised when the family in front of us brought in McDonald's at the interval at Wicked!

Have posted this before, but we went to see a modern dance piece which was focused heavily on light and darkness, so the lightshow was a fairly major part of it. There was a woman a couple of seats along from me playing on her phone and the screen light was genuinely really distracting.

The guy in the row behind her reached over, grabbed it off her and lobbed it into the aisle🤣🤣🤣

I would never have dared do it myself but I did think it was a fairly brilliant solution.

I very rarely go to the theatre as I cant justify the price for a family of 5.
I recently took my eldest to see The book of Mormon as a birthday treat and was really peeved at the adults behaviour.
Those that dont understand where the ushers signpost them and insist on walking through an entire row of seated people. Those that turned up half cut to a maninee performance, those still standing in the isle in groups as the show was starting and those who dont want to sit in thier row (all 8 of them) so sat in the isle of the stalls.
This is not even starting on all of the middle aged women who were obviously huge fans and couldnt fucking sit still, clapping, singing and bouncing all the was through the entire performance. Yes woman next to me I am looking at you and next time please feel free to choke on your noisy gigantic bag of pretzels.

It’s awful, but I think it’s sign of the deterioration in behaviour across society in general. So many people don’t seem to care at all how their behaviour impacts others. Manners in general seem to be disappearing, people don’t seem to want to accept they have responsibilities to go with all those rights! Respect for others doesn’t matter so much now to many. Some people can’t even be bothered to get dressed to drop their kids at school or go to the shops. No pride or self respect.

It’s awful to experience and watch happening.

I used to pay for the £5 restricted view seats back in the day at the Royal Opera/Ballet.

Mostly very well behaved audience but i do remember a man who tapped along to all the music in Swan Lake on the railing. It seemed like a showing off thing, to show he knew the music. Very irritating!

Brilliant idea I think some people do need a reminder

Theatre etiquette is dreadful these days

would behaviour and etiquette advice along with ticket delivery help.

Tasers! (Lighthearted obvs)

yip totally ruin a trip for me and my daughter. Went to see Frozen as a birthday treat travelled all the way down from Scotland to London, and there was a group of women with very young kids, The women all sat together an talked all through the first half after arriving late, then left the kids to there own devices. Kicked our seats, talked loudly and rustled their food all the way through the first half. At half time i called an usher over and they had a word..

It used to be 8 at Stratford when DDs were young even for productions aimed at youngsters like the Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe and Beauty and the Beast. Excellent productions when we finally got to see them (2002)

Edited to add behaviour of all children was perfect

I am a volunteer at the Globe theatre in London and we receive a lot of training

We went to see The Importance of Being Earnest at the Rose Theatre in Kingston a few years ago. After the interval, just as it was starting, the woman across the aisle from us answered her phone and started a loud conversation with whoever was calling her. Couldn't believe it.

At least theatre shows are pretty well behaved compared to concerts. I've pretty much stopped going to those as people just chat loudly to their friends during the songs they don't like. And at a Marc Almond gig in Brighton last year there was a proper punch up a few rows behind us - police involved. Crazy.

Agree. It is very annoying. I think that people should have to book by card, and if they are behaving badly and not stopping when asked, should be barred from attending future performances. If theatres had something in place to the pubs' 'barred from one barred from all' that would stop them transferring their bad behaviour to other theatres. Probably unworkable but something has to be done to prevent a descent into total chaos.

I had pretty much the same experience at a matinee there recently. It’s absurd. By all means, have a family friendly/relaxed performance (it’s great that places do this). But allowing general disruption is crazy and will put their regular audiences off going, especially given the cost of the outing these days.

I recently went to a show. Woman next to me re-did her make up and applied body cream mid way through. This involved rummaging in bag, rubbing, squirting , powdering, lipstick, opening and closing for about 10-15 minutes

Punch is a fantastic play!

I’ve noticed recently more and more instances of young children being taken to shows that I wouldn’t consider child-friendly. I have a really high tolerance for noise and disruption at family shows, but I can think of several plays recently, including one last week, where an adult near me has spent most of the play trying to engage a bored/restless child with the show. Lots of “ohh let’s see what happens next”, “I wonder what the man is doing, let’s watch” with either a disinterested child or a child constantly asking questions or saying they want to leave. Honestly it’s like they are in front of the TV. If you have to give a running commentary your child is too young for the show, and I say that as someone who’s had to sit in the foyer when I’ve got it wrong in the past with DS.