Appalling audience behaviour or is it me?

[Proudmum17]

Watching "the Scottish play" at the RSC in Stratford last night and was very shocked at some of the entitled audience behaviour. One man's phone went off 5 times during the performance. A woman 2 rows away continually chatted about the performance with her partner then decided to stand at the front of the circle for a better view ( the ushers sat her back down eventually- she refused to say where her seat was). Then once she'd eventually shut up another woman started. This never used to happen. What's going on?

Yes puts
Me off shows and cinema.

Venues need to
Police this or they will eventually lose so much business it won't be viable

Oh yes, maybe, as in more money than sense!

I go to the cinema a lot & there are so many selfish buggars who have no idea how to behave.

I'm also continually shocked at the absolutely shocking mess people leave behind. Used to be just the cinema, but the theatre is the same and not just family shows like Lion King, but stuff for older audiences too.

My 7/8 yo knows he brings everything out with him / us and we make a point of saying to the smalls about making sure we take everything. Ok so popcorn sometimes gets spilled, but bottles and wrappers and boxes.... dear god I've got 3 kids and 3 cushions and a ton of kid crap and I still make my rubbish out

You think only the poor behave badly??

I'd just like to say that if anyone here was one of the teachers in the upper circle at the last night of 'Dear Evan Hansen' in London last October, (I think the kids might have been from a Welsh school maybe) your kids were beautifully behaved and you gave GREAT teacher looks when they were sitting down at the beginning 😁

I agree, some of the behaviour beggars belief.

I took DD to see the King and I at the Palladium a few years ago. Kids in the row front allowed to get up and down the whole way through walking up and down the spare seats.

Man at Hamilton (In the expensive dress circle seats) checking his phone. I had a word at the interval I was so incensed.

DD and I go to the theatre all the time, we get the cheap seats with restricted view (often not actually restricted and sometimes the view is excellent for £20-£30 a tic.)

She has know how to behave from a very young aged at the theatre.

These adults have no excuse.

Tbf i have seen notices at the cinema asking people to leave everything behind so the cleaners can recycle correctly.

I don’t get it either. The level of noise in cinemas and theatres. I do wonder psychologically if people can’t deal with silent periods or quiet 😂

I think this is part of the problem. People can have a tendency to treat everywhere like their own home - where they constantly eat and bicker and make comments. I love silence and find it oddly comforting - noise makes me tense.

That's awful OP

Phone going off is unacceptable. Talking is also rude during a performance

People should mute phones and put them away

Woman on her phone in Oppenheimer 2 seats down. God's sake.

I will say the audience at Dear England at the National Theatre were perfect. Great evening.

I'm going to our local theatre tonight albeit to see a band so there are likely to be people getting up to dance and singing along (but hopefully not louder than the band). The last time I went to this theatre (a few months ago) to see a different band, I thought the audience were very well behaved. I did spot one woman who got her phone out to film (inspite of having passed numerous signs on the way in clearly stating photos/videos not allowed) and she also put her program on the ledge in front of her seat (front row circle) disregarding the numerous signs in front of her saying not to put anything on the ledge). On both occasions the usher was straight on to her telling her off - which is why I noticed.
This was all in contrast to an event I went to at another theatre where it seemed to be a free for all and I wondered why some people had bothered buying tickets as they seemed to spend most of the performance walking in and out to the bar (why was that even open during the performance?) , the toilet or out for a cigarette.

Tickets are so expensive so why talk or be on your phone

Audience were mainly great at matinee musical yesterday apart from one phone not ringing but text arriving noise

I mostly go to kids things these days and a lot of parents let their kids chat, wander about and generally carry on through the entire performance so this doesn't surprise me in the slightest. These are the theatregoers of the future.

I've experienced this. Also got a close friend who is a solo performer who has sell out shows - meaning people really want to see the show. Friend asks at the beginning for the audience not to film. Friend asks midway through for filming to stop. People film on and off all the way through. Apparently it's quite off putting when you're on stage because stage lights reflect off the camera lenses. People simply don't care about the performer they've come to see. But when you're in the audience it's bloody annoying when you see the show on mini screens wobbling about in front, or have your view partially blocked by someone.

People don't like handing phones in before shows and queues to retrieve them after, and it also increases ticket prices so friend doesn't want to do that.

I've also had problems at cinemas.

And ballet. But I went to a matinee with kids pre covid. Very expensive, great Christmas production. I'd explained on repeat about not talking. The two kids and their well-dressed, conservative with a small "c" grandparents (Salvatore Ferragamo shoes, Hermes scarf, pearl earrings grandmother) sitting next to my son didn't think talking was a problem. I'd honestly never have imagined they'd be ok with kids talking, but not only were the kids talking they were talking to the kids! Youngest age advised was 8 I think and the boy wasn't older than 5... I've not gone back. No point.

I did go to a kids' production that was loud, kids could be loud and that was fine. Still there were kids shouting out at bits they were supposed to be quiet in..and their parents encouraging them!!!

Actually that's what I thought about this type of behaviour in the cinema - that this is the new generation's way of enjoying their night out and perhaps I just needed to change with the times. But this is the RSC and these audience members were in their 50s and 60s and were avidly chatting and giving a running commentary on the dialogue. The bloke with a phone also in his fifties.

I had a survey through asking me about my experience of the evening so I gave appropriate feedback. The ushers seemed to be doing all they were allowed to do but these people should be removed in future or the RSC will lose customers

It’s definitely on the increase. We went to see My Fair Lady at the Coliseum, and a group of women talked through all the dialogue. Only shut up for the songs (when they could have got away with a bit of chat!). Rude, selfish, entitled behaviour.

I do go to the cinema. I wait till film been out for at least a month and then I only book the back row

Sound carry's forward so isn't so bad usually

Theatre I go to my local
Non london venue that has cheap boxes. I will only go if I have got the box and sometimes I pay extra to get the whole
Box to myself and
My party. Its seats 5 so if we are in a 4 I'll pay the extra 20 to get the extra seat and know we have the whole
Thing. Bliss

Otherwise I won't go.

Only problem with sitting on the back row is that you can clearly see everybody's phone screens lit up!

We went to see the same play at the Globe in London a couple of weeks ago and had a similar experience. For some reason the people immediately in front of us were Spanish, didn't speak a word of English and had no clue what was going on and spent the play trying to move seats. DH wondered whether they hadn't understood what they'd come to and were expecting to be an "experience" rather than a play.

The people in front of them were Americans, a woman and two primary aged children. The girl seemed to be engrossed in the play but boy and mother were looking at their phones, dodging about moving seats, and talking to each-other. It didn't help that a normal-sized man in front of the boy had decided to sit on two cushions so I don't think the kid could see at all.

Then you have people in massive hats, people talking and people wandering about.

It was all very odd.

My ds used to work at a big cinema in Manchester. He said the worst mess was after 50 shades. Loads of wine bottles and not a few pairs of knickers. Ewww.

Oh the horror!!!!!!

AncientQuercus I am a volunteer at the Globe where theatre etiquette is more relaxed than in most indoor theatres. However if your enjoyment of the play is seriously affected you should speak to one of the stewards who will try to help. Having said that, I am very sympathetic to many posters who have described bad experiences as when I am in the audience for a play/musical/film I hate being disturbed by people talking/on their phones

@Peakypolly we had the same watching Falkland Sound you could have heard a pin drop.

Wasn't it amazing btw?

We went to see dirty dancing last year in London. The show was great but we had a row of women in front of us who played on their phones with bright lights through the show. They had smuggled mini bottles of Prosecco into the theatre and we’re topping it up with vodka. They were singing/yelling on every song. Someone did come and have a chat with them but they were class A dicks!

My DD and her friend were with us and they just rolled their eyes at the behaviour! If 12 year olds know not to behave like that in a show then women should too!