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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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Original poster

AIBU to think its rude to leave the theatre during the applause?

40 replies

rainbox · 12/02/2017 20:18

Am I the only one that gets wound up by this? I've noticed it so much in recent years. The play/concert ends and the hard-working performers come out for their curtain calls. Most of the audience are clapping them hard, but there's always some who just get up and walk out, like they have a bus to catch (maybe they have, but even so ...). Once one does it, more follow and before you know it there's a mini exodus going on.

Is it becoming more acceptable? To me it's like the opposite of applause - sending a strong visual message to the performers that you didn't appreciate the show.

OP posts:

LassWiTheDelicateAir · 12/02/2017 21:33

Leaving during the finale isn't the same as leaving during the applause, though

Leaving during the finale is completely different than leaving during the curtain calls.

EllaHen · 12/02/2017 21:33

I wish I had left early today. An hour and a bastard half it took us to get out of the car park and onto the motorway today. I will never, and I mean never park in the Hydro carpark again.

SpringSpringSpring · 12/02/2017 21:38

I think it's rude and ungrateful but have had to do it when a show was late starting so I could get the last train home

Elledouble · 12/02/2017 21:42

It always makes me think of this. It's long but it's worth it - if you liked things like The Day Today.

Ethylred · 12/02/2017 21:50

OP, if people leaving a theatre during the applause winds you up (your words) then you should unwind before something like litter in the street causes your spring to break.

ReapAndSow · 12/02/2017 21:56

We always do it at the a National Theatre but we wait until after the first round of applause and only if we are on the end of a row. We are not that young but generally have at least 20 years on the average NT crowd so we can be in our car moments after the preformance ends.

I don't mind one round of clapping but numerous and endless clapping is dull and much too dickie darling for me. 🎩🎩

PinkSparklyPussyCat · 12/02/2017 22:02

I do as I don't intend to sit in the car park for an hour just so I can clap a bit longer! The car park at my local theatre is shocking and they always seem to have films finishing at the same time as the theatre shows and it's a free for all.

lalalalyra · 12/02/2017 22:09

I always leave with my relative as people rushing for trains/buses etc tend to be quite fucking rude blinkered. If we don't go before the masses then we either have to wait until the entire theatre is empty or she gets clonked on the head with bags by people who can't see a bright red wheelchair. Without fail someone will 'nip' in front of us which leaves me the choice of a) stopping suddenly, which is painful for her or b) hitting someone with the chair which hurts them, and may injure her.

GangstaRat · 12/02/2017 22:12

I'm an actor who used to do a lot of West End theatre, and I don't find it rude. Of the long list of common actor complaints about audiences it barely registers.

MajesticWhine · 12/02/2017 22:12

I don't think it is especially rude, no. Provided it doesn't impede anyone else's enjoyment.

gabsdot · 12/02/2017 22:16

On holiday last year the animation reps started stacking up the chairs while the ABBA tribute band were still singing.
I told them off. I was really enjoying myself and them clattering around was very rude.

QueenMortificado · 12/02/2017 22:19

I've done a fair bit of theatre and the lights are so bright it's actually quite hard to see people leaving, especially if they're up in the gods anyway.

No it's not rude.

pinkdelight · 12/02/2017 23:01

I watch a lot of theatre and almost always stay till after the applause but on some occasions I've hated the show so much i leg it as soon as humanly possible. It's not a matter of being rude or showing appreciation. I paid to see the show and it tested my patience to the limit so I'm outta there! Incidentally critics are very often the worst for legging it immediately:

spooniestudent · 12/02/2017 23:23

How is it ungrateful if you've paid to see a show? On the rare occassion I manage to go to the theatre I have to leave beforehand the crowds as I can't stand for long periods or deal with people pushing past me

RoughBeast · 13/02/2017 12:28

'Rude' in theatre terms is showing up late and making twenty people stand up so you can get to your seat - some theatres won't allow you in until the interval if you're not there by the time the show starts, but some do. Rude is not switching off your mobile phone, or actually answering it or checking it during the performance, or using it to film the performance. Rude is bringing a giant box of Celebrations and rustling through for the mini-Galaxies undeterred by the fact that we're in the middle of a quiet moment on stage. Rude is talking during the performance. Rude is shrieking like a teenager getting her first glimpse of the Beatles when Benedict Cumberbatch/Cillian Murphy/David Tennant comes on stage, in a play, acting with other actors, in front of an audience that doesn't actually necessarily want to hear that you really, really fancy X and would like him to cancel the rest of Hamlet and come and sit on your lap.

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