I'm an avid theatre goer and have been for all of my adult life. I'm middle aged.
I went to the theatre tonight and during the interval most people went to the bar/got an ice cream/ the toilet. This is normal.
I went to the toilet. I returned to the end of my row with my friends before the five minute bell had rung. Lots of people were milling around.
My friend asked politely if the people sitting on the end of the row would mind standing so we could pass by to our seats. We were sitting centrally.
There was a group of 8 people at the end of the row and we were sitting next to them.
Normally this is no issue, I've passed people amicably before, thanking them as I pass and also been passed many times by others accessing their seats. It's a normal part of the theatre experience.
All 8 people ignored us so my friend asked again, politely.
Finally a woman said 'can't you go round?' And pointed to the other end of our row with 6 people sitting.
My friend thought she'd misheard and said 'sorry, please can we get by?' and the woman again said 'no, go round'.
I then said to my friend 'let's go round' so we walked down to the front, along the front row and up the other side before finding our row about half way up and walking along, asking 6 people if they minded standing up.
They said 'no trouble' and stood to let us pass. We thanked them and sat in our seats.
This has never happened to me at the theatre before. Has it happened to anyone else? How did you deal with it?