To be annoyed at disruption in a theatre show?

[shouldwejust]

I appreciate that this is a nuanced topic, and that there possibly isn’t a right answer.

Recently I went to watch a show in the theatre that I had been looking forward to for months. The tickets were my birthday present and something I can’t usually afford, so definitely a one off treat.

Throughout the whole show, a man who had severe disabilities was shouting out and yelling. He didn’t stop at all and continuously made very loud and disruptive noises.

It completely took me out of the show, meant I struggled to concentrate and was just annoyed!

I fully appreciate that everyone in society has a right to enjoy things, and perhaps this man was looking forward to the show just as much as me! But, I don’t think that it’s fair that he disrupted the show for the entire rest of the audience who had also paid a lot to be there.

I don’t know what the solution is to be perfectly honest. That his carer removed him when he was being disruptive? That he attended one of the “autism friendly” screenings that are expected to have more disruption?

When I said this to my partner he was shocked and said that basically we should just accept that our show was ruined for his enjoyment, as that is being inclusive. I don’t feel that inclusivity should come at the cost of everyone else?

I appreciate that I may be told I am being unreasonable here but I’d like to hear other people’s opinions here

And he also left early when it became clear that they hadn’t done what he’d asked for in terms of adjustments.

How does their advice differ from what I said?

Massively over simplified. Theres something called the proportionate means test.

Removing a disabled person because of a disability related disruption amounts to discrimination arising from disability, so for that to be legal it must pass a strict legal test.

The venue must have a valid reason for the removal, such as preventing genuine physical harm, protecting the safety of other guests (which does not include noise disruption) , or preventing severe damage to property. The removal of the person must be the only reasonable way to achieve that aim. If the venue could have handled the disruption by making a minor accommodation, for example, moving the person to a quieter area, allowing a carer to assist, or making other small adjustments, then removing them is very likely illegal.

Before resorting to removal, service providers are legally obligated to anticipate the needs of disabled customers. If an individual is causing a disruption such as involuntary vocal tics, stimming, or physical tics the venue needs to consider whether the disruption is a safety threat or simply an inconvenience to other patrons, and properly explore whether alternative accommodations can be provided

If a venue simply asks the disabled person to leave as a result of complaints, without attempting to accommodate or appropriately de-escalate the situation, then there may be strong grounds to bring a claim for disability discrimination.

I have to say that as a disability outreach worker, in my experience most carers and disabled people themselves who recognise that their behaviours as a result of disability may cause inconvenience to others, would check with the venue first so that any problems can be anticipated. The fact that this person was disruptive may well not be down to any fault of their own, but may well be a failure of the venue to recognise the problem and properly accommodate for it if they have been pre advised.

Sorry to disappoint all those people who would exclude those with ‘inconvenient’ disabilities, but you can’t just yank a disabled person out of their seat and throw them out. That’s discrimination.

People want to enjoy the show, no one wants a screaming person ruining their show.

Did the disabled person even understand the show and what's going on? Can they truly understand and comprehend the theatre show?

Oh for fuck’s sake. Just because someone has tics they can’t control doesn’t mean they have a learning disability. Jesus.

My relative adores football, absolutely loves it with a passion. He cannot cope with loud noises or strangers. Therefore he cannot go to a live football game. No one has the funds to book him a private box to himself. He just can’t go.

We have to accept that. It should be the same the other way round. My cousin can’t go because it would be bad for him, and if someone can’t go because they would spoil it for most others there, then they can’t go either.

Not to mention that the BBC, despite a time delay in broadcasting, chose to broadcast the event in full. The amount of online abuse this poor man took because of his disability was horrendous.

Why haven’t you contacted the venue to see if they can make reasonable adjustment for him ?

How would they make a reasonable adjustment for someone who can’t cope with strangers or loud noises at a football match?

Hence why I said it was nuanced.

Same here, it's just appropriate.

Had a similar situation a couple of years ago in the West End but staff dealt with it discreetly and the person left, I assume, as the disruption stopped.

I would love that sort of version
No whispering
no rustling
no packets
no leaving to go to the loo outside of interval

No clue. But that’s for the venue to decide. And legally they have to consider it.

I saw a few suggestions at theatres putting on ‘quiet’ performances, which I took to mean that the audience can’t make excessive noise. I thought that all standard performances are surely ‘quiet’ ones on that basis?

This kind of exaggeration doesn't help the discussion at all.

The location was relevant, and asking people who can't stop shouting out not to attend a standard performance of a play doesn't mean they can't go out at all.

Most of us on this thread are perfectly capable of agreeing that it isn't fair to other people to attend a standard performance of a play if you can't stop shouting and it isn't fair to exclude those people from a theme park, a supermarket, an all action film or an aeroplane, as examples among many.

I'm sorry if you personally meet a lot of people who make you feel unwelcome, but crying "ablist" about the comments on this thread doesn't help you.

And if they say there’s nothing they can do?

What if she can’t though? This man in the theatre obviously couldn’t make a choice about his noise, some autistic people can’t “deal with it”

Disabled people exist. We can't just erase them when we think they're being 'inconvenient'.

The person in OP's post seems like they have learning disabilities.

For starters it would have be recognised as a disability.
I suppose one of the luxury hospitality boxes might work. If that person can't cope with seeing strangers then I don't think a football stadium would be expected to be able to accommodate them.

OP says "Throughout the whole show, a man who had severe disabilities was shouting out and yelling. He didn’t stop at all and continuously made very loud and disruptive noises."

You cannot tell from that description what intellectual capacity the man has.

Theatres are struggling. You think that they should refund majority theatre goers, just in the name of inclusion? As long as one person, the disruptive one, enjoyed the show, then the theatre should suck it up and suffer a huge loss in revenue, possibly ending the night with a negative balance? Okay……..

There is another angle to this. As a disability outreach worker, many times I assisted with similar problems by contacting venues on behalf of clients. It’s my experience that rather than risk disruption, carers or the disabled person themselves will reach out to a venue in advance to explain the problem and ask if there are any reasonable accommodations to be made.

Everyone here is assuming that this didn’t happen. IME that’s not the case - disabled people don’t just rock up at a venue and not care whether their disability related behaviour is going to inconvenience others. Neither do their carers. That’s just an ignorant assumption on the part of people who have no clue what it’s like to live with this kind of disability. I’d wager that what’s happened here is that the venue have been informed and have agreed to make accommodations which have magically disappeared on the day. Happens all the time. Doesn’t stop the ignorant from assuming it’s all the fault of the disabled person and blaming them for trying to live their lives.

Nobody is arguing for erasing disabled people, calm down.

Absolutely this!