Theatre lovers- who is with me?

[EBWhite]

I have decided to take a new approach when people around me get their phones out to record parts of a performance (after being told not to at the start) I used to seethe quietly but have decided to be more assertive and, if it’s irritating me, I ask them to put their phone away. It happened again this evening and the lady I asked to stop looked quite put out. I don’t get why someone can’t see how distracting their filming is. I’ve been feeling a lot less pissed off since speaking up but a bit guilty, especially when it’s older people doing it. But seriously, why record in the first place? Your video is going to sound tinny and will have the back of other peoples heads in it.

YANBU!

I always ask people to stop. I've never had an argument from anyone. A few times I've had apologies.

That’s nice to hear. Maybe they just get caught up in the moment and want to share it. Yes, people don’t tend to continue once asked to stop. I think if we all told people to stop it then we could get rid of this. I’m not brave enough to try the same approach on public transport though!

Same here.

Of course, OP. I always ask people to put their phones away too.