Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. Flexible and made to last.

Meet the Other Phone.
Flexible and made to last.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To think you shouldn't be allowed in to the theatre 30 mins late?

133 replies

MardyMarie · 29/12/2017 22:48

I took my DC to the panto today. There were two seats empty on our row and I knew it was fully booked so I waited 15 mins before getting new born DS to sleep; presuming the theatre wouldn't let people in any later and that those people may have been poorly. However, half an hour in a man and his son arrive and ask me to move to let them in. I asked him to go to the other side of the row as DS was sleeping but he kept talking and woke him anyway, before squeezing past and knocking my DDs popcorn out of her hands.

AIBU to think the theatre shouldn't have let him in that late as it's disruptive to both the audience and the performers? Fortunately I got DS back to sleep but that man disturbing us could have resulted in us having to leave.

OP posts:
Fairenuff · 29/12/2017 22:51

If the noise of the panto didn't wake your ds, I doubt the man's talking did it. It was probably coincidence. You caused more disruption by arguing with him instead of quietly letting him pass.

arethereanyleftatall · 29/12/2017 22:55

Yabu.
I'd be gutted if I booked a show, arrived late for whatever reason, and wasn't allowed in. Children would be devastated.
And have i read right - you put your baby in someone else's seat, and then refused to move him? You were totoally unreasonable if so.

arethereanyleftatall · 29/12/2017 22:56

I think I've read wrong.

TheFlis12345 · 29/12/2017 22:56

You took a newborn baby to the theatre but think that people arriving late, for unknown reasons, probably beyond their control, were disruptive and shouldn't be allowed? Hmm

LokiBear · 29/12/2017 22:57

It was a panto. Yabvu. You are annoyed because your newborn was woken up, but you chose to take him to what was always going to be a challenging environment for a newborn

Original poster
MardyMarie · 29/12/2017 22:58

No, DS was on my lap so I had to stand and wake him to let the late man pass. I didn't argue, Fairenuff, I just asked if he could please get to his seat from the other end of the row. I don't think that's particularly unreasonable.

OP posts:
Sparklingbrook · 29/12/2017 22:58

I can't get past newborn baby at the theatre.

ClumsyFool · 29/12/2017 23:00

It’s panto not a serious show where someone coming in late breaks the atmosphere etc. It’s a minor inconvenience yes but these things happen and they could have had any number of reasons for being late. Better that the child still got to enjoy most of the panto than them being disappointed and upset by being refused entry.

Izzyislington · 29/12/2017 23:00

The Royal Opera House won’t let you come into the auditorium until a suitable gap in the proceedings - ie a change of act or scene. I think that’s the right thing. It’s not fair to have interruptions when you might have paid £100+ per ticket and managed to get there on time.
In a local panto where the tickets were considerably cheaper, I would say it’s irritating and bad manners but probably just one of those things you have to accept.

Yukbuck · 29/12/2017 23:00

They could have been late for lots of reasons out of their control. Accident on the motorway, road works. Many many reasons. I give myself extra time to get places but if there's an accident it's out of my control. I'd be gutted if I spent that much money on tickets and was turned away.

Fairenuff · 29/12/2017 23:00

It depends on how many people he would have to disturb to go the other way. Most people go to the end of the aisle closest to their seat which is what I assume he did so YABU.

Glumglowworm · 29/12/2017 23:02

I get that it’s annoying (more so at a serious show than a panto though) but yabu to not just let them past

Why would you take a newborn to the theatre anyway? You’re far more likely to cause a disturbance than a couple of latecomers.

Original poster
MardyMarie · 29/12/2017 23:03

You assume wrong. From my side he had to disrupt me, DS and four children. On the other side were just two adults.

I would have expected to have to wait until the interval if I'd been that late, for reasons out of my control or not.

OP posts:
BackforGood · 29/12/2017 23:03

You took a newborn baby to the theatre but think that people arriving late, for unknown reasons, probably beyond their control, were disruptive and shouldn't be allowed?

This ^

Wow.

Wineasaurous · 29/12/2017 23:04
Biscuit
LockedOutOfMN · 29/12/2017 23:04

YABVVVVVVU to take a newborn to the theatre.

It's annoying when people arrive late, but doesn't really disrupt the panto, and, as other posters have said, they probably have valid reasons for being late and their DC would be very sad to miss the whole show.

bruffin · 29/12/2017 23:04

Yabu
Why were you taking a baby to the theatre, not fair on the baby and not fair on anyone else there.
Went to see Greatest Showman this week, a baby and a toddler in the audience both being noisy all the way through, the toddler mum did take him out occassionally but the babies parents did nothing.
Parents are getting more and more selfish.

arethereanyleftatall · 29/12/2017 23:04

At the panto we went to, every minute or so someone went to the toilet and back. A new person coming in wouldn't be particularly disruptive in a panto environment.

HeddaGarbled · 29/12/2017 23:05

You were unreasonable. It was a panto not a normal theatre experience, so will have been full of children getting up to go to the toilet, screaming "behind you!" etc. This was not an environment to expect to put your baby down for a nap.

Original poster
MardyMarie · 29/12/2017 23:05

Because I'm a lone parent with no family or friends, glum. So either baby came or none of the DC could go. My DD is autistic and loves panto, I didn't want her to have to miss out. DS slept through it and was in no way disruptive

OP posts:
MrsSchadenfreude · 29/12/2017 23:06

I think the correct answer here is “Oh yes they should!”
Or perhaps you could have shouted at the man to go behind you!

CasperGutman · 29/12/2017 23:06

I don't think a panto is typical of most theatrical productions. There is not subtlety to the plot or dialogue, and it is expected that most of the audience will be young, will rustle sweets and snacks throughout and of course will join in very audibly with the audience participation, cheering, booing and generally making a racket.

For this reason, I think OP was NBU to take a baby along. For the exact same reason, I don't think it was unreasonable for the theatre to think it would not be problematic to admit latecomers. I hope they might not have done so in a play with more subtle dialogue!

Yukbuck · 29/12/2017 23:07

I'm sorry but they aren't causing any more disruption than someone getting up to use the toilet .

ClaudiaWankleman · 29/12/2017 23:07

YABU. If they had been shown to their seats entering on your side of the row, it’s because that was the most appropriate side to enter from. Entering via the other side would have been more disruptive to other people, as they would’ve been walking along more than half the row to get to their seats.

Also, your baby is going to sleep through a pantomime? Oh no he’s not!

Fairenuff · 29/12/2017 23:08

Might it not be too loud for a tiny new baby's ears though? I went a couple of years ago and even I had my hands over my ears at one point. Especially when 'buttons' or whoever is doing the old 'I can't hear you, is that the best you can do' routine. Kids were screaming their heads off!