Why would you text at the theatre?

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Unless you're an idiot?
Rosamund Pike calls out audience member for texting during show

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c0723zgdp0eo

Given how many posters there are here, there must be those who think it's reasonable behaviour to text or film during performances.

We watched RP in this play (Inter Alia) and it's an incredibly intense experience. I just can't understand the mentality of someone who would pull out their phone and text during a performance.

If you have to have access to your phone, surely you get seats further back so not impacting the actors so much and preferably on aisle seat so can make a quick exit without impacting anyone else

Again, read the article. Actors are talking about this because it is a growing problem. If it was the first and only time that Pike ever saw someone texting during a performance, she probably wouldn't have come out to give a speech about it. But bad behaviour and misuse of phones in audiences is on the rise in theatres. It's not imaginary.

@FeminineIntuitionYou’re saying we know it wasn’t an emergency, but we actually don’t know anything about what was happening for that person. Unless you were reading their screen over their shoulder, you’re guessing. Phones in theatres are annoying, sure, but claiming certainty about someone else’s situation without any context is just speculation dressed up as fact.

Well, there was. Otherwise we wouldn't be talking about it and she wouldn't have complained...Clearly, it impacted her.

If it was an emergency, that person wouldn't still be sitting in the stalls for the curtain call would they? She came out to address the texter after the play was finished. If they had been dealing with a life or death situation they would have left. As other audience members were also appalled by the person in question, it's evident that their behaviour was not acceptable.

@FeminineIntuitionive read the article. Even if it’s a growing problem in general, that doesn’t tell us anything about what was happening for this specific person. You can’t take a trend and retroactively apply it as context.

Like someone else said, if it's an emergency, go outside and deal with it properly.

From a performers point of view James Norton has type 1 diabetes and has spoken openly on the challenges of managing his blood sugars whilst on stage. A phone hidden on the set, colleagues coming on stage and passing messages to him secretly before their scene ends. Having glucose hidden on set in case of a hypo and an insulin pen to treat a hyper.

i suspect no one reasonable would really object to a quick, very dull screened check. Which I hasten to add we would always try to do during a suitable moment ie brightly lit scene not a very dark still moment.

The problem is people using phones casually, for social media, for texting etc. none of those are acceptable in a theatre. Using a medical device is not the same thing.

A real emergency cannot be solved by texting. If someone is dying, the house is on fire, the pet has got run over, a child is having a seizure that won’t stop etc etc then that person would actually leave the theatre to deal with it.

I am not going to read the article, and cannot be bothered to see the play now as I am not paying for a Headmistress Experience. What if I wear a disruptive pattern fabric or smile in a wrong way? I am less worried by tech slip than by etiquette creep.

House staff should have said something. Not the actor's job.

Pony club texting etc obviously wrong, as is taking photos (!!!) But most equines are more compelling than anyone on a stage.

There isn't an excuse for someone to be texting throughout a scene and then to stay where they are. If it's an emergency that justified texting, they should be leaving as soon as possible ie during the curtain call if not before. The fact they were still hanging around shows they weren't dealing with anything important and it could have waited till after the show.

How do you think she could see someone texting in a darkened auditorium?

Peoples attention spans are completely fucked because of phones 🤷‍♀️ they’re so addictive some people can’t not look at them every 5 mins.

It’s depressing.

I’ve had people doing this in the theatre and in the cinema and the light is very distracting.

Really?? The light disturbs everyone - both audience and cast. The actors are giving everything and can SEE that an audience member can't be bothered to pay attention. Don't go to the theatre if you can't stay off you phone for an hour for so.

@FeminineIntuitionMost texts aren’t life or death, that doesn’t mean they’re trivial or unjustified. People check their phones for a hundred reasons that aren’t emergencies. We also don’t know what other theatre goers were thinking. Unless people stood up and announced their feelings, that’s just projection.

There’s always some numpty who needs a wee/to get a drink/comes late.

whereas I genuinely have never noticed a phone light up enough to distract me from a play.

If you're more interested in horses than plays, go to a stable instead of a theatre. There's nothing headmistress-y about someone personally affected by another's behaviour taking that up with them. She had every right to explain the impact that disruption had on her ability to do her job and to deliver the experience to the rest of the paying audience who wanted to see it.

Yes it absolutely means it was unjustified. The text did not need to be sent at a moment when it disrupted the performance. It could have waited. And we know what the other theatre goers thought because they're quoted in the article saying how pissed off they were!

I'd need to text to say we're on our way, and I might wait one or two minutes to get up until a more active part of the show. DH has T1 and uses a phone for his sensor and he always waits till it's noisy on stage to glance at the phone. People are more distracted then.

So the person in question could have left during the curtain call and applause if they needed to respond to a time critical situation. They didn't, as they were still there when Pike came back out and directly addressed them. So clearly they weren't texting about anything that required immediate attention!

It’s a specific sound alarm so you know you’re low.

Because you can’t check your phone when you’re driving it’s a legal requirement to check your levels are above 5 before you start your journey and if it alarms anyway you legally have to pull over—it doesn’t matter what the exact reading is, if it sounds you’re too low to drive, you stop immediately and treat.

However, this wouldn’t work in a theatre setting as you can’t have the alarms on.

it’s also not always a simple case of I’ve alarmed I need to treat, it’s more of a decision process about ‘what’s my exact number, how quickly is it dropping, when did I last eat, what’s the glycemic index of what I last ate, how much insulin do I have on board’.

Some diabetics can physically feel when they are low, but a lot can’t and are 100% dependent on sensor readings as they’d go from feeling fine to in a coma within minutes.

And before people chime in with ‘what about before phones’, before phones T1 diabetics treatment involved holding blood sugars at a much higher level to avoid going too low—this was actually easier care wise, but long term health prospects (and cost to NHS) was much higher. So not being able to ‘disconnect’ is a small price to pay for keeping health, eyesight, and all limbs.

Sometimes there are horses onstage 😁

Audible alerts! That we turn off for the sake of the rest of the audience in the thestre.

At this point I think it is up to the theatres to cheack down on this kind of behaviour-
people who disturb others should be made to leave because having a quiet word has no effect.

I went to a gig recently that was phone free (all locked in a pouch on arrival, and unlocked when leaving) and it was utter bliss. I wish all shows would do this

But then I’m pretty intolerant at the theatre in general. See also:

Singing along. Just be quiet
Loud rustling and chomping
Leaving for the toilet. If you know you can’t hold it for 1 hour perhaps sit near an end
Clapping and whooping when certain characters come on. I hate this and I don’t know where it’s come from
Filming the entire bows and therefore not clapping. So unbelievably rude

I really have to practice my patience at shows these days 😂