Rude people are the Theatre

[MadeleineMummy]

I hardly ever go out but a friend and I decided to go to the West End to see a sold out version of Macbeth. There was an affluent couple behind us who just talked loudly and heavy petted all through the first half while kicking our seats. It was a small theatre and it was really distracting. I kept on looking back at them but they did not seem to notice. I finally spoke to them and told them I could not hear the actors. The woman then haughtily said with a smile, “Well I won’t speak louder than the actors then”. Then proceeded to talk louder. It was not just them, it seemed as if there was a buzz of talking around the whole theatre.

During the interval, I spoke to an usher and she said she would have a word and she did speak to them twice but it did nothing to dissuade them for speaking. Is it just me or have people lost all sense of decorum and decency? The play was a hot ticket with famous names and I would assume that people who came out would have some appreciation for the theatre and be lovers of Shakespeare but it seems not to be the case. This is the second time this year that I have been to a show and people have talked all the way through.

I really hate going out because most venues seem to have ignorant rude people. I am inclined to stay in more because I know that I will have my night spoiled by horrible people.

Is there anything I can do to step people from behaving so horribly?

We've stopped going completely because of this. Used to go the theatre once a month and cinema probably every two months. It's just not worth the aggro and ruined experience.

You are indeed wrong.
I buy the cheap seats so I can go to more things because I love live theatre. Not everyone who loves live theatre has the funds to splash £120 when £25 gets you in. What a snob!
Also, I rarely do this but I’ve edited to because your superior attitude kind of asks for it. It’s ’as opposed to’ not ‘apose’. Obvious really.

You need to go to decent musicals not low grade film adaptations and juke box nonsense. Different crowd for sure.

I love a good Jukebox like Jersey Boys, but there are some i would avoid because of the audience have a reputation for being drunk.

I do the ballet every Christmas but am starting to go off it due to all the parents loudly explaining everything to their children and praising them for their insightful questions (always during the quiet bits). Stop it! That's what the interval is for!
Agree!

We see Nutcracker every year as part of our Christmas traditions, which some people don't understand as 'you've seen it already!' but no two ballets are exactly the same.

Anyway, I digress, but you're right the performative parenting in the middle of the ballet is very unwelcome, and they're passing off this unacceptable behaviour to their offspring so they too won't know how to behave at a theatre. I've told people like this off before (previous post about a family in the next box).

Front row of a balcony would be a)cheaper and b)a way to remove that risk.

I wouldn’t go to any of them. I like musicals. I like gigs. I don’t like some sad crossover that shoehorns songs into crap storylines and then has weird arrangements of them.

Should anyone want to see it (or should the OP want to see it again, ahem), the Donmar release standing tickets for that evening's performance at noon every day.

They also do a thing called Donmar Daily which confusingly happens at 10am (but log in probably at 9.57) and is for seats for the performance that is in 7 days time. So if you managed to buy a Donmar Daily seat this morning it would be for Dec 20th.

In Glasgow someone else in the audience just shouts loudly at the offender, ‘Gonnae shut up!’ And the offending soon ceases. Thats what happened last time something like this happened in the theatre anyway. The irony of the situation was not lost on me!

People idiots not checking their seats are correct, or simply sitting where they want is another frequent problem. Last night we had someone sit in an incorrect seat and everyone along the row ended up being displaced and the usher had to sort it out.

These ushers are often voluntary and retired in some of the small theatres. They have better things to do than deal with these self entitled twits, especially those who refuse to move.

Another time I found an elderly couple in our seats, and when informed they were in our seats they told us there were seats free behind that we could sit in. So they get our better, central, seats? Not a chance. I insisted they move or I'd ask for the staff to intervene. They moved but under sufferance like they'd been done a great wrong. Awful, mannerless people.

I also hate this sort of behaviour. It puts me off going to the cinema/theatre at all.

i could hear the couple behind me despite the headphones. They had one ear off the headphones so they could chat and the kicking and the pushing of the seats with their legs was really annoying. I fumed for a long while before I had to speak to an usher. I did not want to disturb the proceedings but it was so annoying. Possibly people thought I was the ass going to the toilet. The theatre is really small and there was a real murmur of talking when I took my headphones off.

Oh thats good because I've booked to see Hairspray next year there and was starting to worry I'd wasted my money, reading through this thread. The only theatre show I've been to since before Covid lockdown is pantomime, and you expect that to be loud and rowdy anyway.

Here's are a couple of articles about the stance taken by the Edinburgh Playhouse:

Edinburgh Playhouse boss condemns anti-social behaviour of audience members who abuse his staff (scotsman.com)

An Edinburgh theatre director has hit out at audience members who abuse his staff when challenged over antisocial behaviour ranging from singing along to West End musicals to using their phones during performances at his venue.

‘Worst party in town’: abusive audiences force UK musicals to tone down ads | Musicals | The Guardian

On Tuesday, Colin Marr, director of the Edinburgh Playhouse theatre, told the Stage that audience behaviour was the worst he had known in his five years in charge. “One of the main things we are trying to do is around messaging and working closely with producers,” he said. “We are talking to them about marketing. So, when we market shows let’s not have phrases such as ‘best party in town’ or ‘dancing in the aisles’ – the show has something much stronger than that to sell.”

I know someone upthread said ushers can't throw people out but at my regional theatre, whilst we can't throw out ourselves we can call management who can then escalate if needed (and frequently do).

Must be lucky to have that support.

Sometimes all it takes is going and standing near their row for them to shut up.

Behaviour since lockdown has been markedly worse. That's for sure.

Im going in January so will see how it goes, im surprised they let you out to go to the loo, as most theatres wont let you back in if you leave.

Oh for sure! Sorry, I didn't mean to generalise about all theatres. The complaints I've heard about ushers not being able to act is mainly for ATG venues (though Edinburgh Playhouse is an ATG venue, so they presumably just have a great manager). I only really work in the smaller London venues like the Court or the Bush, and I imagine they would take a hard stance against disruptive audience members. Whereas the jukebox musicals don't care.

I recalled reading this thread and had to come back to it after going to the theatre myself last night with my DD.

We got a tickets for Hamilton in Manchester Palace theatre. It was a christmas gift, so spent a pretty penny on stalls tickets.

Oh my god, I really could have punched so many people.

So much sniffing and coughing.

At a particularly poignant, dimly lit part in the show, a woman next to me got her phone out to check her SM, which was rather distracting.

When it was again, a poignant part in the show and it was all quiet, someone blew their nose so loudly it sounded like one of them comedy nose blows where they were just actually blowing a raspberry.

There was one bloke sat behind me and you know that vile noise people make where the like snort snot out their nose via the back of their throat? This was constant.

I really think people should sit a test before they're allowed to the theatre, to prove they can sit for 2.5 hours, without being socially offensive 😂

I had this when seeing Harry Potter and the cursed child. There was a Spanish family behind us who arrived late and then the youngest child (who was only about 4 or 5 and didn’t seem to know much english) clearly had no idea what was going on. He proceeded to loudly ask his mum loads of questions throughout the whole thing, which she would answer, also loudly, no attempt to get him to shut up.

In the end the people next to and behind them kept shushing them, so every time one of them spoke it would be met with a SHHH! They left after the first part which I think was a victory for us all!

I went to see The Witches the other day, entire theatre full of perfectly behaved children, three adults behind me unwrapping and gobbling cellophane-wrapped chocolates without pause for the whole of the first half, despite multiple glares from audience members. Shut up! Stop rustling paper directly next to my ear! You're not a cow, you don't need to chomp chomp munch every single waking second.

We went to see only fools and horses at the haymarket in London a few years ago

Was really looking forward to it as we are massive fans of the show

Got there,got settled and just as the curtain lifted,two older ladies started talking about how they hated the show

Del boy was a wanker,rodney was wet,its wrong to have black people on the tv (denzil) and Marlene was a slapper-it went on the whole of the first half

Why bloody go if you hate the show its based on?

I was really pissed off as I'd been looking forward to seeing it for months

The bits we did get to hear where really good

Went to see Mcbeth tonight and there is no way OP saw it .
She didnt know there was a break and there are signs up everywhere , even in the toilets that you will not be allowed to back into the theatre if you leave the auditorium.

If the people were behaving she was saying the whole theatre would notice!

OP did not know that the audience wore headphones, then claimed they only put one side on so they could talk , the way the headphones are (small over the head ones) it is impossible to only have one side on. The sound is coming from all around, quite eerie .

The theatre is tiny and if someone was behaving the way they claimed everybody would be noticing and so would the actors.

No bad behaviour tonight and certainly not a lot of the audience talking as OP claimed.

Yes, I thought the same when this thread first came up. And I haven't seen the play.
The level of detail about noticing their Breitling and Rolex watches and Louboutin shoes took this story a tad too far.
Makes you wonder what the hell people get out of making things like this up.

@RenoDakota
It wasnt even the right demographic for the audience.

True