490 posts
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Post by bimse on Jun 17, 2022 17:37:54 GMT
Saw The Lion King in Edinburgh recently. Worst audience I’ve ever been in I think! Constant chatter from everywhere, a couple of kids beside me had a full blown argument at one point. An adult along from us kept trying to initiate clap alongs, which never worked but she kept going… There was also a kid near the front of the balcony that had some kind of colourful flashing toy that they would set off randomly. A steward finally clocked exactly where it was and the family looked so shocked they were told to put it away and kept ‘whispering’ about it. I get it’s kind of a kids thing, but I took a 7 year old with me for his first theatre trip and he was great because we explained what the theatre is like! He’s certainly not a quiet by nature child. Interesting that you had such a bad experience, I saw the Lion King a few weeks back on a Saturday evening in Bradford. It was a sell out , and I can only say it was a delight to be in that theatre. The audience was very responsive , but incredibly well behaved . Of course I can’t speak for other performances , and I’m going to Footloose soon , not my kind of thing, so watch this space, there may well be a different vibe ! |
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Post by Deleted on Jun 17, 2022 17:44:36 GMT
I agree with the sentiment of your post too. K I see theatre's need to educate on etiquette, whilst maintaining box office by not being exclusive or snobbish. Frankly who else will? If something is a "societal" issue, then it needs to be addressed by management on the front line. Zero tolerance for loutishness would be a huge start. Unfortunately when some members of the public are challenged they will make up whatever lies they think they need in order to get their way, and they'll escalate up the management hierarchy until they reach someone who will gullibly believe every word and punish lower-paid workers who have done nothing wrong. Unless you're lucky enough to have one of the few good managers the only way you keep your job is to cave in at the first sign of resistance. It's a CEO-level problem.
(I know I've said this before, but if you're high up in a customer service company you cannot possibly be an even marginally competent manager unless you regularly take some time to work on the front line and experience for yourself what the worst of the public are really like.)
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7,207 posts
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Post by Jon on Jun 17, 2022 17:53:33 GMT
Unfortunately when some members of the public are challenged they will make up whatever lies they think they need in order to get their way, and they'll escalate up the management hierarchy until they reach someone who will gullibly believe every word and punish lower-paid workers who have done nothing wrong. Unless you're lucky enough to have one of the few good managers the only way you keep your job is to cave in at the first sign of resistance. It's a CEO-level problem. (I know I've said this before, but if you're high up in a customer service company you cannot possibly be an even marginally competent manager unless you regularly take some time to work on the front line and experience for yourself what the worst of the public are really like.) There are some members of the public who shouldn't be let out of their homes until they learn basic manners. |
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Post by sph on Jun 17, 2022 21:45:30 GMT
Service is too polite in London. I like a New York-style service which is efficient and keeps the customers in line.
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Post by lightinthedarkness on Jun 18, 2022 10:30:05 GMT
Saw The Lion King in Edinburgh recently. Worst audience I’ve ever been in I think! Constant chatter from everywhere, a couple of kids beside me had a full blown argument at one point. An adult along from us kept trying to initiate clap alongs, which never worked but she kept going… There was also a kid near the front of the balcony that had some kind of colourful flashing toy that they would set off randomly. A steward finally clocked exactly where it was and the family looked so shocked they were told to put it away and kept ‘whispering’ about it. I get it’s kind of a kids thing, but I took a 7 year old with me for his first theatre trip and he was great because we explained what the theatre is like! He’s certainly not a quiet by nature child. Interesting that you had such a bad experience, I saw the Lion King a few weeks back on a Saturday evening in Bradford. It was a sell out , and I can only say it was a delight to be in that theatre. The audience was very responsive , but incredibly well behaved . Of course I can’t speak for other performances , and I’m going to Footloose soon , not my kind of thing, so watch this space, there may well be a different vibe ! It is interesting! Possibly because we did a weekday matinee? Ours was also just about a sell out, with only a couple of random empty seats. When buying the tickets it seemed like a good idea since the school holidays haven't started but alas... I adjusted my expectations quickly, but I would have been very annoyed at any other show by so many people. There were a couple of schools there, but they were very well behaved to their credit! I think maybe the sound wasn't helping either really, it was pretty difficult to make out dialogue sometimes and it felt quiet. |
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Post by NorthernAlien on Jun 18, 2022 11:42:24 GMT
Interesting that you had such a bad experience, I saw the Lion King a few weeks back on a Saturday evening in Bradford. It was a sell out , and I can only say it was a delight to be in that theatre. The audience was very responsive , but incredibly well behaved . Of course I can’t speak for other performances , and I’m going to Footloose soon , not my kind of thing, so watch this space, there may well be a different vibe ! It is interesting! Possibly because we did a weekday matinee? Ours was also just about a sell out, with only a couple of random empty seats. When buying the tickets it seemed like a good idea since the school holidays haven't started but alas... I adjusted my expectations quickly, but I would have been very annoyed at any other show by so many people. There were a couple of schools there, but they were very well behaved to their credit! I think maybe the sound wasn't helping either really, it was pretty difficult to make out dialogue sometimes and it felt quiet. I saw the Lion King at The Edinburgh Playhouse on the Sunday Matinee - not our choice of performance to attend - it was a Christmas present. And honestly? Given the absolute horror stories I'd heard about bad behaviour at the EP, I was pleasantly surprised at how Not Terrible the behaviour was. I mean, it wasn't perfect, but I'm making an allowance here for the significantly child-heavy demographic of the audience. Noise and general scuffling sounds got worse towards the interval, and my feeling there was that the first act was too long - I was out of my seat and sprinting for the bathroom the second the lights came up, so goodness knows how others were feeling! The worst behaviour we observed came from the woman sat behind my husband, who for some inexplicable reason just started bashing her knees into the back of his head in the second act - we think she might have been trying to use her camera sneakily? And on that front, I have to say that the ushers were *very* proactive, being up and down the stairs as soon as any backlight was seen, and not being afraid to wave their torches in people's faces to get them to stop. I strongly agree with your point about the sound - there were some bits that you couldn't hear, including during some of the songs. As we were at the end of the week's run, I frankly would expect any issues on that front to have been dealt with by then. |
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Post by sfsusan on Jun 18, 2022 12:12:19 GMT
they'll escalate up the management hierarchy until they reach someone who will gullibly believe every word and punish lower-paid workers who have done nothing wrong. I used to work at the concierge desk at a hotel in the US and we had the same issues. Directed from on high at the corporate level, the policy was to appease anyone complaining by sending them amenities and/or comping things. As far as we were concerned, all that did was reward bad behavior and make the employees look bad. We got our own revenge by also sending amenities to guests who were really good people. People who were celebrating special events or even just were nice to us. Sadly, corporate limited our amenity budget so only the troublemakers got the goodies. And don't get me started on "influencers" and those claiming to be travel agents! (One story from an affiliate hotel told about two women on a weekend visit who were upset about something on their arrival day. As a make-good, the hotel gave them coupons for a free breakfast. They complained about the breakfast and we given coupons for a free dinner. They complained about the dinner and their ENTIRE weekend, including rooms, was comped. That's just wrong.) (I know I've said this before, but if you're high up in a customer service company you cannot possibly be an even marginally competent manager unless you regularly take some time to work on the front line and experience for yourself what the worst of the public are really like.) Do you have the tv show 'Undercover Boss' in the UK? It demonstrates this quite clearly by setting up this exact thing. The bosses that participate are open to this lesson and still come out of it humbled by the experience, and setting up new programs and policies to improve the employees' lives. |
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Post by Deleted on Jun 18, 2022 15:18:39 GMT
Do you have the tv show 'Undercover Boss' in the UK? It demonstrates this quite clearly by setting up this exact thing. The bosses that participate are open to this lesson and still come out of it humbled by the experience, and setting up new programs and policies to improve the employees' lives. We do, but I've never seen it. I do follow Not Always Right, which has an immense number of customer service horror stories. |
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Post by margoc on Jun 18, 2022 21:21:51 GMT
Was at Heathers today and two women, old enough to know better decided to use the stage as a table, natter right through the quiet bits and when the actors where right in front of them (jd and veronica during seventeen) they chatted all the way through the opening bit of act two. Absolutely disgusting its like all etiquette has gone out the window since covid i bet zoo animals would act better than these women did.
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4,033 posts
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Post by Dawnstar on Jun 19, 2022 12:11:29 GMT
I'm reading the Wikipedia article on the Roman Emperor Caligula & I think this puts all modern bad theatregoing behaviour into the shade!
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8,175 posts
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Post by alece10 on Jun 19, 2022 12:11:39 GMT
Was at Heathers today and two women, old enough to know better decided to use the stage as a table, natter right through the quiet bits and when the actors where right in front of them (jd and veronica during seventeen) they chatted all the way through the opening bit of act two. Absolutely disgusting its like all etiquette has gone out the window since covid i bet zoo animals would act better than these women did. It's not just since covid, it has been happening for a long time before then and the fact there are nearly 400 pages on this thread proves it. |
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Post by hannechalk on Jun 19, 2022 12:55:23 GMT
...until it came to the reprise of ADWD, at which point it became a free for all with most of the audience attempting to join in and most of them pretty badly. But the whole arrangement of the reprise of ADWD is wholly geared around the audience participating. If it wasn't, I could understand your frustration, but it's so clear the reprise is a singalong. |
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2,267 posts
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Post by richey on Jun 19, 2022 13:20:22 GMT
...until it came to the reprise of ADWD, at which point it became a free for all with most of the audience attempting to join in and most of them pretty badly. But the whole arrangement of the reprise of ADWD is wholly geared around the audience participating. If it wasn't, I could understand your frustration, but it's so clear the reprise is a singalong. I'm sorry but I disagree with you. I have never heard anyone sing along with it until last week. And I have seen it many times, including the 1992 Palladium production. The megamix should be the place for singing along (if they really have to) |
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Post by margoc on Jun 19, 2022 13:30:52 GMT
Was at Heathers today and two women, old enough to know better decided to use the stage as a table, natter right through the quiet bits and when the actors where right in front of them (jd and veronica during seventeen) they chatted all the way through the opening bit of act two. Absolutely disgusting its like all etiquette has gone out the window since covid i bet zoo animals would act better than these women did. It's not just since covid, it has been happening for a long time before then and the fact there are nearly 400 pages on this thread proves it. Thats very true! |
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Post by NorthernAlien on Jun 19, 2022 20:35:45 GMT
I'm reading the Wikipedia article on the Roman Emperor Caligula & I think this puts all modern bad theatregoing behaviour into the shade! Maybe we should bring this back? It'd maybe make people think twice about how they behave? /sarcasm... |
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Post by Jon on Jun 19, 2022 20:39:14 GMT
I think Caligula had the right idea
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4,033 posts
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Post by Dawnstar on Jun 19, 2022 21:23:12 GMT
Maybe we should bring this back? It'd maybe make people think twice about how they behave? /sarcasm... Unfortunately it doesn't sound like the victims were chosen for bad behaviour, otherwise I might be supportive of it! |
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Post by steve10086 on Jun 19, 2022 21:25:09 GMT
...until it came to the reprise of ADWD, at which point it became a free for all with most of the audience attempting to join in and most of them pretty badly. But the whole arrangement of the reprise of ADWD is wholly geared around the audience participating. If it wasn't, I could understand your frustration, but it's so clear the reprise is a singalong. It’s really not. |
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Post by adrianics on Jun 20, 2022 6:32:41 GMT
Bad behaviour definitely existed pre-pandemic but my experience, and a very common one across many from what I can gather, is that's it's gotten immeasurably worse since we came out of lockdown. This country has always had a very unhealthy relationship with alcohol and there now seems to be a more significant proportion of society than ever who apparently cannot have a good time without getting absolutely blackout drunk, which will inevitably lead to bad behaviour in public.
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Post by firefingers on Jun 20, 2022 8:14:32 GMT
So I've been working in theatres pretty much since they've reopened (must have done well about 300 performances plus) and as a sound engineer I'm at the back of the auditorium so able to observe the audience.
Thinks I've noticed:
Phones going off are more frequent. I think this is understandable (though of course not acceptable), people haven't done this in a while and so less likely to remember. Though we do have an announcement they should be paying attention too on the current gig...
I'd say general annoyances hasn't really gone up. The occasional phone checkers, quiet talkers, singing along under their breath etc seem to be at the same level.
The people trying to film has gone up a bit, I think partially driven by people wanting to show they went out and did something in real life etc.
BUT
the lowest rung of the behaviour ladder has got worse. The 0.1% who have become more egregious. I haven't worked a boozy party kind of show yet, and even we on occasion have had to ask people to leave due to shouting out, general vulgarities,and threatening behaviour. Several theatres now employ externally contracted security (who'll pace the back of the auditorium so I am acutely aware of them) because of patrons getting physical and this wasn't really a thing prepandemic.
So I think generally audiences as a whole aren't much worse, but the worst subsection have decended to a previously untouched level.
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Post by hannechalk on Jun 20, 2022 13:41:16 GMT
But the whole arrangement of the reprise of ADWD is wholly geared around the audience participating. If it wasn't, I could understand your frustration, but it's so clear the reprise is a singalong. It’s really not. Then why the pause waiting for the audience to chime in, the encouraging hand movements, why don't the children come on straightaway etc? |
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Post by steve10086 on Jun 20, 2022 13:45:21 GMT
Then why the pause waiting for the audience to chime in, the encouraging hand movements, why don't the children come on straightaway etc? OK, maybe they’ve dumbed it down on the tour then. I’ll admit I was basing it on the Palladium run. |
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Post by richey on Jun 20, 2022 15:05:25 GMT
Then why the pause waiting for the audience to chime in, the encouraging hand movements, why don't the children come on straightaway etc? None of that happened when I saw it. And those who were singing along in Liverpool started doing as soon as the song started. |
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1,873 posts
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Post by Dave B on Jun 26, 2022 8:09:00 GMT
Fringe/pub show last night. About 30 people but pretty full for the venue.
About 20 minutes in, a woman stands up and says very loudly "I've had enough, I'm leaving" and storms out.
(It was pretty poor, there were 12 people left after the interval but still...)
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Post by Deleted on Jun 26, 2022 9:50:40 GMT
About 20 minutes in, a woman stands up and says very loudly "I've had enough, I'm leaving" and storms out. You know, just leave. It's fine. Depends on the circumstances. I love the scene in Futurama where Professor Farnsworth is at a dinner party and suddenly stands up, shouts "I'm bored; let's go", and walks out. There have been many situations where I've wanted to do exactly the same. |
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