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Original poster

What do you eat at the theatre

111 replies

Mistlefrog · 14/11/2022 12:59

I’m going to the theatre for the first time next month and I know it sounds silly but I don’t know what to expect.
Because of work and travel time I won’t have time to have dinner first, do I buy snacks there, or can I take food with me? Is it like the cinema? Or do i just need to be hungry until it’s over.

also do I have to get there much earlier than it starts? Or is 10 minutes to find my seat ok? I don’t have the tickets yet just the booking which says 7.30pm.

OP posts:
TheBitterBoy · 14/11/2022 13:02

Please don't eat during the performance. This is what the interval is for.

ChessieFL · 14/11/2022 13:03

I hate people eating in the theatre. The sound is usually not as loud as in the cinema so people rustling food wrappers is really annoying. However there usually are snacks on sale but it will be sweets/chocolate and possibly peanuts or popcorn, nothing usually more substantial than that.

Ten minutes should be OK to find your seat but get there a bit earlier if you can especially if you will need to stop to buy snacks!

stuntbubbles · 14/11/2022 13:04

Restaurants nearby will have pre-theatre set menus with speedy service designed to feed you and get you out of there on time. If you can’t do that, I’d eat dinner at work.

Some theatres you can buy snacks but very limited usually and many don’t; plus it’s a bit frowned upon – it’s not like noisy surround-sound cinema where pick and mix and popcorn is standard; digging into a crinkly bag of wine gums during a quiet moment will get you shushed.

7.30 sounds like curtain up: I’d allow a bit more time than 10 minutes to get to the loo, get through the crowds, climb mountains of stairs depending on your seat, etc. Plus if you’re in the middle of the row everyone will huff and groan if you shuffle in at 7.29…

Sorry, this sounds like it won’t be fun! It will be.

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AgentProvocateur · 14/11/2022 13:05

Please don’t eat in the theatre. It’s anti social and distracting. 10 mins before to find your seat will be plenty of time. Enjoy the performance.

AMessageToYouRuby · 14/11/2022 13:06

10 mins early is probably fine but you’re meant to be in your seat for 7:30 so if you want to get a drink at the bar before, definitely allow more time.

Foodwise it’s a bit different to the cinema as sweets and ice creams are sold but people are going to be taking in hot dogs and nachos! You aren’t really meant to eat during the performance. Probably depends on the show too, noisy family musical you can rustle your sweets whereas a quiet dramatic production this would be unacceptable. There is an interval if you need to wolf down a snack but again cracking out a prawn sandwich even then would be frowned upon to say the least.

Just book a post theatre dinner? Many
restaurants near theatres do them.

Whataretheodds · 14/11/2022 13:10

If I were going to the theatre i would either have more substantial, later lunch and a light supper afterwards, or have a sandwich or something before i went in.

I'd try to allow time to go to the loo, get a drink and find my seat, but if you're just going straight in you can get away with going in 10 mins before curtain-up (which is the time on your ticket) assuming no special access needs.

Which theatre are you going to?

Headabovetheparakeet · 14/11/2022 13:12

Please don't eat during the performance. If you don't have time for proper dinner before, either eat a sandwich quickly before going in or wait until the interval.

Chemenger · 14/11/2022 13:13

If you insist on eating (which I would personally never do) the food must be completely silent, no rustling of wrapping, no crunching, no rattling, no slurping, no audible chewing, no opening of fizzy drinks, and it must not involve much movement. I would say the same is true of the cinema too, but that is a lost cause. Get there 15 minutes early and bring a sandwich to eat before the play starts, then have an ice cream in the interval. If you eat crisps or sweets in rustling wrappers during the performance (always unwrapped s...l...o...w...l...y to prolong the agony) people will want to hurt you. However, if it's a noisy musical you can probably get away with all of the above, if it's a play, not so much.
10 minutes early is fine, unless you want to get a drink in the bar to take in.

Nightynightnight · 14/11/2022 13:16

Please don't eat during the performance! It is so distracting. Theatre tickets are so expensive and the last few times I've been it has been ruined by people munching on crisps and rustling packets. Unfortunately all of the bigger theatres I've been to lately sell crisps!

I agree that either having a big lunch, small supper or grabbing something super quick before you go in is the way to go.

Original poster
Mistlefrog · 14/11/2022 13:22

It’s a musical, but noted on the snacks!
looks like I’ll be packing a protein bar or something for the drive there
Thank you

OP posts:
bigfamilygrowingupfast · 14/11/2022 13:55

We've always either had one of those pre show set menus, or stopped afterwards for a curry on the way home (curry houses are open late near me!)

inappropriateraspberry · 14/11/2022 13:57

I remember going to a theatre once, and they sold bags of sweets. If you bought some, they tipped them into a plastic bowl so there was less rustling! Great idea, and you just returned the bowls at the end.

GetOffTheRoof · 14/11/2022 13:57

Mistlefrog · 14/11/2022 13:22

It’s a musical, but noted on the snacks!
looks like I’ll be packing a protein bar or something for the drive there
Thank you

Why can't you eat a sandwich or a wrap while driving?

WhatJustHappened321 · 14/11/2022 14:07

Some absolute bell end was eating some kind of sweet with crinkly wrappers all the way through a theatre performance recently. Did it veeeery slooowwwly presumably to be quiet but if I could have spotted who it was I would have found them and possibly murdered them. I nearly had stroke. Don't be that person!!

Onesipmore · 14/11/2022 14:14

Please don't eat during the show. If you are really that starving take something to eat at the interval, or eat a later lunch.It really is not like going to the cinema.

Comefromaway · 14/11/2022 14:15

The theatre my daughter works at will not allow proper food in. Sweets or crisps in a non rustle container only.

I would take a sandwich and banana to eat on the journey.

Lcb123 · 14/11/2022 14:18

Agree, don't eat in there. Have a big lunch and a quick sandwich en route. Be careful you're not late as some theatres don't allow you in until a certain point in the show

schnubbins · 14/11/2022 14:19

I've never seen anyone eating in a theatre and in most I think you would filthy looks if you did.

barskits · 14/11/2022 14:20

You need to be in the auditorium on time, otherwise if you get there after it has started, some theatres will not let you in until a suitable break in the proceedings.

TwoRockSalmonAndAHaporthOfChips · 14/11/2022 14:27

Pleas don’t eat in the auditorium. In the quiet bits it gets totally quiet, and if you make a noise, even the actors will hear you. You’ll ruin the dramatic tension and collective experience which makes the theatre so special. It’s interactive in that the whole success of the performance relies on the audience and actors being engaged with each other and suspending disbelief so that it becomes a real little world you all inhabit for two hours.

A big bag of monster munch would be enough to ruin it for everyone.

Hbh17 · 14/11/2022 14:32

Just eat before you go. Eating at the theatre is a vile habit - disturbs the audience and, more importantly, the actors. Eating at the cinema is bad enough, but at the theatre is completely unacceptable.

Headabovetheparakeet · 14/11/2022 14:37

I'm happy to see the unanimity of responses here.

TomTraubertsBlues · 14/11/2022 14:39

You don't eat in the performance at all.

Have your dinner before or after, depending on timings. Many restaurants near a theatre will offer pre-theatre sittings where they'll make sure you are served in time to see your show.

Dogsgottabone · 14/11/2022 14:48

Will you be in London? Pizza pilgrims has a fabulous turnaround time. We always go for 6.30 and then wander over to the theatre about 7.15.

There was a total eejit trying to eat all the way through the first half of To Kill a Mockingbird in May. We could see them as they were in a box and we were in the cheap seats diagonally opposite them. Basically half the people on our side of the theatre made a complaint as it was so obvious. I think they were pissed and oblivious to the noise.

alongtimeagoandfaraway · 14/11/2022 14:48

Totally agree with the above comments but I have been to a musical (Wicked) where seemingly massive amounts of food and drink were available to buy beforehand and in the interval. The auditorium was full of people munching and slurping.I’d never seen anything like it. Good merchandising opportunity I suppose but a really negative experience for me (wasn’t keen on the show either, too many plot holes and screechy singers)