Booze in theatres

[Conniebygaslight]

We go to various theatres probably about half a dozen times a year to see different things, musicals, comedians, plays, audience with....etc.
Every single time over the last couple of years there has been groups or couples who are constantly shouting out from their seats, always women (usually middle aged) and always off their faces drunk. They completely spoil the show.
We've had women fighting in the foyer, or passed out drunk and/or just generally being very loud and obnoxious./aggressive
We went to see comedian last night and again the 2 women behind us were ridiculous and we had to move.
When did boozing in theatres become the norm?
For reference I'm a middle aged woman who is also a drinker but I can manage a night at the theatre without one.
AIBU to say that alcohol is becoming part of everything nowadays and nowhere is safe from drunken louts?

My local theatre has been having issues as have many others around the country, particularly the ATG chain which hosts a number of pricey touring productions like Hamilton, Phantom etc. I’ve heard the problem is much worse at the jukebox/movie adaptation types (I don’t think they are fun so I don’t go), but if you Google it, these incidents happen increasingly frequently.

I was attending a performance of Les Miserables at a rival large local theatre where they are trying to avoid this behaviour. They announced before the show I was at (Cabaret) that “at next week’s performance of The Bodyguard, no alcohol will be served”… I was so baffled. Now I know!

Or decent musicals. You're talking about juke box nonsense.

O, the behaviour at decent musicals isn't different. I go a little, but not to juke box ones. They aren't any good.

Exactly what I've been trying to say, only said much better! 👏👏👏

We went to see a well known comedian on holiday and he abandoned the gig because of the loud mouthed heckling drunk in front of us. I think drink should be limited, and drunk people chucked out.

I worked for several years for a couple of security companies that provide staff to theatres both in the west end and regional theatres. We have had to turn away customers at top west end shows who turn with boxes of pizza, assuming they can eat them during the show and get very annoyed when we won't let them in.

We have ejected people from all types of shows for misbehaviour including being drunk/rowdy, chatting, singing along, using their phones and generally being a nuisance.

Every theatre will have their own level of what they will tolerate and we generally have to follow their lead before we get involved. We have definitely broken up fights over seating, people being a nuisance and even between couples/friends.

It is not unknown for people to be given free tickets to a future show, if their experience has been disrupted by other people, but again this depends on the venue.

I think its down to a general decline in societal standards of etiquette and what people see as acceptable behaviour in public.

You cannot get drunk on theatre drinks, they're so expensive!
But it's people doing pre drinks at home or the local pub then going on to a show. I've never experienced what you have though but I'd be annoyed too, it's so expensive to go to the theatre these days so it's a real treat when we do, I'd hate to have it ruined by twats!

I'm pretty tall with long legs and a stiff knee. I'd also love to be able to sit still, but since my legs are more or less wrapped round my neck to fit in most seats it's impossible. I do try to book early to find a seat with more leg room/on an aisle so I can stick my legs out though.

I’m at a London show most weeks and don’t experience this. Plenty of latecomers, mid-show toilet visitors, talkers and phone-screen-switcher-on-ers though.

Why do theatres let people drink in their seats? That’s really disturbing to the rest of the audience and the performers. I mean, surely theatres could just stop allowing that??

I'd have to get rat arsed to get through an audience with Gary Barlow 🤣

They do it to make money. Its actively offered and advertised for that reason.

Yes I had it also at a show in Edinburgh, performance was stopped and the people removed.

This was a matinee.

I've had recent trips to the theatre, cinema, football games and gigs ruined by people who appear not to be able to get through 90-120 mins of entertainment without a drink, even when they apparently are already pissed.
The constant getting up and down to go to the bar, talking over the performance and general disruptive behaviour annoys me because I'm there for the show/ game. If I want to drink and chat to my friends I go to the pub. These days people appear to be more focused on having a good time than being mindful of impacting on the enjoyment of others. It is possible to do both, as demonstrated by the lovely people sat in the same block as me at a recent Pet Shop Boys gig.

I think it was at a performance of The Bodyguard at Manchester Palace that behaviour got so out of hand that the police had to be called.

I am not a prude where alcohol is concerned but I think the behaviour you hear about from some people these days is just appalling.

Part of the problem is that the theatres see alcohol sales as a much needed way of making a profit, hence they allow people to drink during the show itself and let in people who are clearly drunk. I think the only solution would be to go back to pre-show and interval drinks only and have draconian security measures to bar access to and throw out anyone who is clearly drunk or behaving badly.

Obviously the behaviour you describe is obnoxious, but the theatres encourage it for the alcohol sales. Also, the acts like audiences to be a little bit sozzled.

I've recently been part of a sober socials thing. There's a regular quarterly "dry" night at a comedy club near here. It's really hard to book acts. They know they need to be funnier to make a sober crowd laugh.

"I'm with the OP. I think it's sad people think they can't enjoy anything without alcohol. And the point is their enjoyment of drinking is quite often to the detriment of the enjoyment of the event for other people. When people are drinking they often are unaware or actually don't care about how it affects other people."

@Everythingiscalmfornow I 100% agree with you on this. It seems to me that, for many people, consuming alcohol (and, all too often, it's large amounts of it) is seen as an essential part of an evening out.

I've never seen that happen at musicals or plays ever.

Comedians are completely different though, many good ones ENCOURAGE audience participation... in fact I only go to see comedians who do, its bloody boring otherwise watching people read pre-written jokes, I prefer the on their feet wit of actual funny people.

Jason Byrne is the best, every single show is unique because its all just bantering with the audience... people yelling out is literally what MAKES the show and there wouldn't be anything without it. I have joined in many times and even been pulled on stage with him whilst stone cold sober.

I'm lucky enough to have been to have 4 London shows this year and have not experienced anything like this! Not when I've been to shows at our local theatre either.

I think it's a combination of post-Covid changes to how people think it's acceptable to behave at public performances – we all got used to sitting at home watching stuff live-streamed or recorded, drinking, eating, chatting, getting up and down etc – and theatres needing to make money in he face of ever more vicious funding cuts. Food and drink is a good way to make better profits, and a lot of places now market shows as a 'night out' and either actively or tacitly encourage singing along/participation.
It's OK at things like Magic Mike or Mamma Mia (I imagine, anyway; I haven't been to either – maybe it's just as annoying at a show like that?)
but it's not OK at things like Blood Brothers, which yes is funny and involving but is not a jukebox musical or a comedy routine.

TBH unless or until theatre funding improves, I can't 100% blame them for doing what they can to keep afloat. But it does somewhat put me off going.

They probably got drunk before the theatre rather than during. You'd have to take a bank loan out to get drunk at a theatre bar.

I mainly go to matinees - no drinking issues there but don't get me started on people checking their phones through the performance!

Been to a couple of evening events this year - one NT (all good) and one comedian - we were at the after work performance and people were enjoying one or two drinks. The later performance I heard was a v drunken affair and someone was thrown out by security - just spoils it for everyone else.

Having said that, yeah, openly drunk people in these places are really annoying.

I don't think it's an issue unique to theatres unfortunately, although I adore the theatre. I tend avoid the hit musicals and similar as I can't abide the behaviour some show such as the singing, shouting, booing etc. not every performance is a pantomime!

There has been a steady decline in "acceptable" public behaviour for many decades, although I feel the decline is gaining pace in the last 5-10 years. People do not seem to have the same standards anymore.

People are becoming increasingly brash, self centred and arrogant. A few decades ago it would have been unseemly to be rip roaring drunk in public, to have loud private conversations in public, to shout and swear, to be rude and inconsiderate, to let small children run loose in unsuitable environments such as restaurants. All these things are normal everyday occurrences now. Everyone is too self involved to care how they are impacting on others. It's all about a persons right to have fun, to do what I like etc.

Of course society had other issues many decades ago and it wasn't all roses, but I do think it's a shame that the sense of decorum in this country has gone so far downhill.

Rolling my eyes at all the condescending "well what theatre do you go to?" "This wouldn't happen at hedda gabler" type posts. Maybe it's more likely at musicals (because audiences get confused between the overlap with other live music events?) but it's absolutely an issue everywhere. The "intelligentsia" can be as arrogant as anyone else.

I've been to several productions of "normal" theatre with issues, including king Lear where the actor stopped mid monologue to tell someone off for using their phone.
A cursory Google refers to fights during the crucible, police called to death of a salesman, etc - all in west end/Broadway not amateur/regional productions