Why do people do this?

[Wellandtrulypeedofff]

Spend £150 on theatre tickets, then proceed to rustle crisp and sweet packets and munch their way through the whole performance? Even the emotional solos and monologues weren't safe from the incessant rustling and crunching.

Special mention for the man in front of me, who despite having a clear veiw of the stage, sat right forwards in his seat with his neck stretched like bloody meerkat the whole performance giving me a great veiw of the back of his head.

Usually when I go to see a show i like I'm on a bit of a high, but I just feel deflated this morning. Feel like just giving up on theatre altogether.

Went to theatre a month ago ! People filming and photos when ushers holding signs saying not too ! There should b consequences!
And the 2 ladies on a front row tier in front of us thought it was a Dance disco at the end and was dancing and singing !!
My daughter actually told them to sit down because she couldn’t see and enjoy it .
They did sit down it’s so embarrassing thou !

@BibbleandSqwauk I know I should have said something. Annoyed at myself that i didn't, but at the same time I was thinking, if he ignores me then that's the whole experience ruined.
I should have been more assertive and probably ruined it for myself, imagining fake scenarios in which things don't go my way.

We’ve noticed this more at musicals but not so much at the opera, ballet or various plays we’ve seen post covid. I have noticed at musicals that my 6 & 8 year olds were significantly better behaved than many of the adults who had a good chat, passed around sweets and left a horrendous mess. In the end though I understand it. We went to see Charlie and the chocolate factory recently and the cost of a drink each & 3 ice creams in the interval was more than the cost of one ticket. I imagine the theatre makes a lot on selling the drinks & snacks. I also think you have to allow that with covid there will be a lot of kids new to it that will take a while to get the rules. I had to take my kids out of first thing we went to after lockdown as they wouldn’t sit quietly but now they know that will happen if they don’t follow the rules they’ve been fine.

I saw a woman deal with a group of loud Americans in a theatre once with ‘Do you know how loud you are being?’ I thought the use of a rhetorical question was effective and non confrontational. It worked. I have tried to use it myself to varying degrees of success.

’Did you know I can’t see when you lean forward like that?’

He might’ve just said ‘no’ and carried on. But it does put the onus on them to offer a sort of response. It also allows them a ‘Sorry, I didn’t realise’ 🙄

We had this at the Lion King last week too, OP. I thought we had just been unlucky. The crisp eaters were too far back for us to ask them to stop, but the noise was ridiculous. How someone closer didn't snap, I don't know.

The bloody woman in our row was up and down like yo yo. So of course we all had to let her out. She did apologise every time.

Then a couple in the row in front suddenly jumped up and rushed out then promptly fell! I was actually worried it was a medical emergency but my DD assures me they were talking about needing the loo 🙄.

It was a great show though. The kids in the audience were not the problem at all. It was the selfish, and I suspect slightly drunk adults that were.

@dancinfeet Exactly. I understand that certain shows attract people that maybe have not been to the theatre before and dont know the etiquette (eventhough it should be glaringly obvious to anyone with an ounce of manners) but it doesn't make it any easier to accept.

I haven’t been to the theatre for a very long time but would never eat while watching a performance. Is this a relatively new thing? It’s over twenty years since I’ve been and I don’t recall ever seeing people eat through a performance.

You’re responding to something I didn’t say, @dancin.I love musicals (well, some musicals), as well as being an opera fiend and loving ‘straight’ theatre, and am well aware of the talent and commitment it takes to stage and perform in them. What I am saying is that, in many cases, people who will attend West End musicals, whether in London or touring, would often never dream of going to see Shakespeare or Beckett or Caryl Churchill or Pinter, or lieder at the Wigmore Hall, or Tosca at the ROH, and have no experience of the norms of being in a theatre, both in terms of distracting performers or other audience members. Especially if what they see around them are other people eating noisily, talking, singing along, filming, dancing in their seats etc. I do also think that Netflix etc having largely replaced cinema for a lot of people has given some people a very short attention span, because they’re used to pausing films all the time.

I think its more common at shows like the Lion King than say Hamlet. I try and decide if the noise/leaning forward etc is going to be consistent throughout and then I usually say something. Its annoying though especially as its just down to money for the theatres.

My favourite was at The Mousetrap a girl sitting in front of us in the front row trying to talk with the actors directly whilst they were performing. She then proceeded to pull an opened bottle of wine from her bag and swig it down. She didn't return after the interval!

I remember taking my lot to the cinema for dds 7th birthday

It was a huge treat as I was a skint single mum and saved for ages to be able to take them

A group of about 4 mums and about 7 kids between them,sat in front of us (they seemed to be aged between 2-8 ish)

And promptly let the kids run round the cinema while they ignored them and had a chat among themselves

7 screaming kids just running around while my lot got more upset as they couldn't hear a thing

Cinema staff couldn't have cared less when I complained,just shrugged and walked off

We went to see only fools and horses

Massive treat as I love theatre

Got there with about 20 minutes to spare,had our wee,found our seat and settled in

Two older ladies behind us moaned the whole time as they hated del boy and rodney (then why go???) and the couple in front of us squeaked and howled along to all the songs

Two ladies to the side of us where pissed and kept getting up to go to the loo and get more drinks

Some bloke crunching his way through a family size bag of crisps somewhere behind us

Went to see rocket man-all good apart the couple next to me who narrated all the way through

I'm not even sure they where talking to each other,they where just narrating

I really want to see the barbie movie but I can't handle other people ruining it for everyone else

Yeah, I've given up. Watching everything at home. Now we have a dog we don't want to leave to even more reason to stay at home!

Years ago, I was on a tour bus in Iceland and we couldn't hear what the guide was saying as there was a woman talking loudly about some trivia into her mobile the whole while. The guide told her to keep quiet and she started up again! No idea why this woman took the tour in the first place!

Many years ago we went to see a Shakespeare film at a local independent cinema. Think it was Twelfth Night. There was a group of kids who clearly had no interest in the film, were clearly bored stiff and spent the entire evening running up and down the centre and aisle stairs of the auditorium. Their parents did nothing.

Our local theatre. It's like people don't know how to behave. They think it's a pantomime and it's ok to sort of comment on what's happening on stage line going "ohhhh" when something cunning happens for instance. Shut up ffs.

Last time I went to the cinema to see the final Avengers film- I moved twice. Once because some dude bros behind me were obviously going to comment on every aspect of the film.
Then a couple had brought their toddler, who was bored rigid and much more interested in running up and down the stairs. Then - at the saddest bit- the man lay the kid down on the stairs and CHANGED HIS NAPPY.
Not to mention the man with the coat over his lap who was obviously even more excited to see Captain America than I was....

So many trips to the theatre/cinema have been ruined. I’m afraid I’ve turned into the middle aged woman who will tell people to pipe down, stop singing, stop texting, stop filming etc.

My personal theatre bugbears are the singing along/disruptive behaviour and the drinking. The two often go hand in hand. Sing and dance all you want at the end but during keep it zipped. I’ve paid to hear the professionals perform not Carole from Basingstoke doing karaoke. And I’ll never understand why theatres keep serving alcohol to people who are clearly drunk. I know it makes them money but these people often become disruptive and ruin it for everyone else. If you can’t make it through a three hour musical without getting slaughtered then you have a problem. My last two theatre trips were ruined by people who had clearly been in the bar prior to the performance, proceeded to continue to drink through the first half and interval, became progressively more noisy during the second half and then had to be escorted out.

But that's how they make their money. Tickets would be even more expensive if they didn't sell food and drink. I hate it too but it's not going to stop.

I was going to say don’t ever go to see the Lion King but see that it was the offending show. We went last year, family in front of us must have spent over £500 on tickets and all five of them spent the entire show on their phones, including the parents. That was in addition to the snackers and the poor children who were obviously too young and couldn’t sit still. Worst show I’ve ever been too in terms of audience behaviour.

I've never understood the obsession with buying food and drink at the cinema. I can manage to sit for a couple of hours without eating or drinking anything.

Then at the end, despite members of staff standing at the exits with rubbish bags, they drop all their stuff on the floor.

>I've never understood the obsession with buying food and drinks at the cinema.

When I was a child they were bought for me. Now, as an adult, the cinema experience feels incomplete without popcorn. And you need something to drink when eating popcorn.

If I'm sitting watching a film at home, I'm not eating and drinking through it so don't understand why it happens at the cinema

It occurs to me there has been a transfer of money. A lot of hardworking people can't afford to go to the theatre any more. Occupations involving words are now often freelance or poorly paid so often can't afford it. Occupations that make a lot of money might be those where the people might like the prestige of saying they've gone to the theatre but don't really appreciate it.

Amazing! I loved them so much. Martin Hayes and Iarla O'Lionáird are worth £55 of anyone's money. The music is blissful. Absolute bliss. Once I saw them three nights running at the NCH. I'd meant to go to a different concert at Whelan's on the second night, but couldn't bear to miss The Gloaming. 😁

William Hanson does a reel on food at the theatr. If you absolutely need to eat during teh show, take a ziplock bag with you. Once you've bought your snacks, decant them into the zip lock bag/s, and throw away the redundant packaging. No more rustling when you open your bag of Maltesers. Of course, this doesn't stop the crackling of crisps being eaten, but it does help with the noisy packaging!

Arghh. Keyboard sticking and can't spell. Hopefully you get the gist!

Yeah. I love the theatre. It’s so sad that theatre etiquette has just disappeared these days with so many entitled people munching, chatting, singing, rustling, fidgeting etc throughout. Unless it’s for example the last number in mamma Mia where you get up and sing and dance, just quietly sit still and take in the moment.