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

[MardyMarie]

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.

bastard "Haven't read the thread but just to say I cannot see the issue with taking a newborn to the theatre. They are quuet and very portable at that age, assuming you would leave if the baby cried"

see, by the time the baby has cried and you have taken them outside, you've annoyed the crap out of most people, including the adults.

Panto, different.

I don't go to theatre or ballet much, are babes in arms actually allowed?

You're meant to grow out of PFB behaviour by the time the second comes along.

I think less of an issue at panto where there will inevitably be some disruption with small children needing a wee/an explanation etc, but I’d say no to latecomers at a serious play. I was at the theatre recently and two women sitting behind me talked the entire time - and they didn’t whisper either. I turned round and said to them “Either shut up or get out. You are being selfish and ruining this for everyone else.” Thankfully they left immediately. (I can be quite scary.)

YABU

I can’t stand people who arrive late for shows - they then invariably spend the rest of the show getting up going to the bar/toilet etc as well. Fucking arrive on time and sit your arse in the seat you’ve paid good money to sit in. We were at the panto recently and there was a couple in front of us who arrived late, kept going out for drinks, and then left early. It’d have really boiled my piss if I had been in their row. It’s the same at concerts too. Some people are just selfish and don’t care about disturbing others’ enjoyment

I understand with kids getting up and down to the loo may unavoidable of course

Sorry OP I meant to say YANBU

I’ve been at performances before where latecomers have had to wait at the back until there was a break in the performance where they could take their seats - does that not happen any more?

Haven’t rtft but work in theatre:

You aren’t unreasonable to take a newborn to panto. I would expect audiences at panto to behave differently, particularly as many people do one trip only a year and it’s to panto. to put my theatre nerd hat on, panto is a venerable populist art form, a uniquely British appropriation of commedia dell’arte and should be noisy/ disruptive.

By the same token, you can’t get annoyed if someone is late and admitted. By admitting babies they allow for disruption of baby crying, therefore by same token they will allow for disruption of latecomers.

That being said, I don’t know why they didn’t admit the latecomers to specific seats rather than getting them to go to exactly the seat.

It was a panto, not the LSO!

Babes in arms used to be up to two years where I worked. It may have changed. But they are very specific about where children under three are not allowed. Sometimes even older. I remember one row kicking off with the theatre manager trying to get a child and the mother out of the auditorium once because he was sat on the mother’s lap and hadn’t bought a ticket for him. Think she won in the end because it was Lion King and the elephants were waiting to come through. Some people are well entitled though.