To ask people to move seats at the theatre

[Homemoans]

My 6-year son really wants to see a play of one of David Walliams on Saturday, the only seats they have left are on the front row but they are 5 seats apart. WIBU to buy the two tickets and ask the 5 people sat in between us to either move up or move down?

*Having a massive head, not 'massive head!'

Well, I posted a lot of pages back about the chancer who asked at Fleetwood Mac at the O2 if either dh or I would move about 50 seats back so her fiance could come and sit with her . It was such an outrageous request that we were struggling to comprehend at first what she was asking. Obviously the romance of being engaged trumps the need of a boring middle-aged couple to sit together (even one who had booked their tickets 6 months earlier).

It makes fuck-all difference to anyone's view OR how they will hear the show if they move ONE SEAT ACROSS. (Barring a pillar in the way, or someone having massive head.) Anyone who claims it does is being the dramatic one.

Yes it does. If you want to be sat next to your kid then book in plenty of time!

It's not dramatic to tell someone NO.

Not for those who enjoy a bit of friendly bickering smile

😂 Queen

One seat CAN make a difference. See that price change that happens within one row? That's because the view changes. Some of these are £26 different. So no, I wouldn't be moving.

If you are booking seats on a "pot luck" basis then you might be a regular theatre goer but not an experienced one. There is a lot of thought that goes in to choosing a particular seat for value for money, leg room, restricted view and what that restriction might be, access to a toilet, is it a preview etc. There are websites to check this. If you are the sort of person who turns up at the ticket office in Leicester Square and goes to see Motown the Musical, maybe it doesn't matter so much to you...

indeed User
I'm just pleased we've found a new variation on the "can I make people on a plane who paid for allocated seats move to accommodate my family because I was too cheap to do the same" theme

If someone asked me to move, I'd want to know if the seat I was moving to was of a lesser value first. And then it'd be ME who was then considered the cheap one when in fact the person who couldn't be bothered to book in good time is the one at fault.

I would hate it if someone asked me to move as I book specific seats for a reason. YABVU

I can't believe the attitudes of some of you on here. I only hope it is because this is AIBU and that you would not be so uncharitable in real life. The seats which are available show that if everyone moved up one seat to the left then the OP and her DC could sit together. The seating plan does not show any obstructions to the other seats, no one would be giving up an aisle seat and there is no danger that moving would leave you sitting behind a 6ft 6 man - as it is a front row. I'd put money on it that all those seats are the same price. And those of you who say that people pick their seats specifically - then yes, I agree you choose cirlce/stalls then a row and whether to sit on a front row or an aisle seat - but I can't imagine anyone says they specifically want seat 24 instead of seat 25 - unless the seating plan shows a pillar or restricted view.

This is totally different to asking people to move on a plane where the chances are an aisle or window seat will be involved. And whoever said that once they are sitting down with their drink and food they'd move for no one - then I assume you must always sit on a front row seat otherwise you'd have to stand up to let people into the row who arrived after you - that is standard for cinema or theatre seats.

Those who wouldn't move. I assume you are the people who also park in P&C spaces without a small child in tow or a Disabled space without a Blue Badge just because you can. I only hope you are all more considerate in real life than when hidden behind an anonymous user name.

What is dramatic is being too lazy to book and then waltzing up with the expectation that someone will help. It's the attitude that pisses people off, not the moving a few feet

Plenty of reasons for doing it - and actually the reasons are largely irrelevant.

But it does boil down to the fact that if you can't find suitable seating when you book, you either suck it up or don't go ahead with the booking.

Haha! Yeah I'm uncharitable not to give up a seat that could be worth up to £26 more (just in the example I gave, the difference is higher in some London theatres) to someone who couldn't be bothered. Should I give her my packet of malteasers and my jacket too? Should I hold her binoculars to her face for her as well so she can enjoy my seat even more?

I wouldn't but then I tend to book my seats early and choose them for a reason.

Thank you Navy. I am feeling particularly fragile today as it the anniversary of a sad event in my life. I think it makes you focus more on what is important in life - and seat 15 over seat 14 is not - not in my world anyway. People lost their lives needlessly in London at the weekend and 2 weeks ago in Manchester - where is the spirit that was all over Facebook then? - clearly not extending as far as kindness to our fellow man in other situations which matter not a jot!

I'm actually laughing at the assumption that just because people aren't prepared to accommodate someone in that position, they park in P&C parking spaces or disabled slots

If anything, the assumption that you and your child are entitled to come in and expect people to move is more indicative of that level of selfishness.

Person 1 comes in and sits in their allocated seat, minding their own business.

Person 2 comes in and asks them to move.

Regardless of the answer, why doesn't Person 2 wait to see if someone offers to move?

Person 1 is in no way being unreasonable. Person 2 is interfering with someone's evening.

I wouldn't book a front row seat for a 6 year old anyway, they might only be able to see half the stage. I'd book two of the available seats together further back.

Oh seriously - I'm sorry it's the anniversary of a sad day. But moving seats or not is hardly comparable to the bombings.

Plus those people who were sobbing all over FB probably aren't the same people who would refuse to move seats