Bad Behaviour at a Show

They touched your hair!?

Assault. 

It was my friend - she didn’t want to make an issue of it and only told me at the interval. I would have been all for raising it with FOH but she didn’t want to make a fuss. I think my loud comments when we got back to the seat settled matters and there was no more activity in the second half. But for heaven’s sake, this should not have to be said!

I’m firmly in the “sit down, shut up” camp. The fans screaming during certain moments is bad enough, don’t need anyone singing along on top of that. And if the lad is that young that he doesn’t know to be quiet then he’s too young for Heathers.

That's certainly my usual pov.  I find it quite depressing the extent to which a minority can't grasp that most of us have paid to see the people on stage perform - not to see/hear random audience members join in/comment/chatter etc.

That said, I've always been glad that I don't generally want to see musicals because the impression I have is that many of them are a lost cause.  The last one I remember was Made in Dagenham (couldn't resist the appeal of writer Richard Bean and lead Gemma Arterton) and I'm pretty sure the house staff were encouraging people to join in the chorus (admittedly this was only at the end but you can sort of understand how people get the idea that singalongs are encouraged).  I've also seen shows advertised as 'karaoke' musicals - which is effectively an invitation.

Another caveat is that I generally find adults are worse offenders than children.  Of course. my sample is biased because at the kind of plays I see the audience is overwhelmingly adults.  But I've often been pleasantly surprised at how well-behaved children are.  In fact the biggest problem is usually parents frequently tapping little Tarquin or Jocasta on the shoulder and telling them what to look out for - which I've always thought likely to spoil the child's enjoyment as well as that of the wider audience.  At some operas (eg Hansel and Gretel, The Cunning Little Vixen) there is almost bound to be a large contingent of children - but I've usually found the most flagrant and thoughtless misbehaviour comes from adults.

I regularly point out to people singing along at concerts that I didn’t actually pay to hear them sing.

Absolute witch, dealt with superbly by the excellent Old Vic front of house staff tonight.

For anybody unfamiliar with the production of A Christmas Carol, there is lots of light and shade. In the "stage stalls" seats, a woman spent most of the first half flicking through her phone, culminating in her creating a nice bright glow during the pre-interval blackout scene where Scrooge says "I am a greatcman, do you hear me? A great man!"

Having been distracted numerous times, I discretely sought a front of house person at the interval and advised them of the distracting phone usage and asked if they could keep an eye out in the second half.

A FOH manager went and had a polite word, before the aforementioned witch kicked off and started berating me, telling me "you are a nasty man". Fortunately several people backed me up and said it was a distraction. She denied being a nuisance and basically told eight people they were wrong and she was right.

No phone appeared in the second half... The Old Vic's handling of the situation was magnificent.

I was quite shocked by her behaviour - not just the brazen phone usage in a fairly intimate show, it was the bright glow as the set lanterns slowly flicker out during Scrooge's big moment of self-doubt and the choir singing "O Holy Night" - usually a breathtaking piece of theatre, spoilt perhaps for a few by the absolute selfishness of this cretin.  She proceed to berate me across the aisle telling me I was "nasty" and "just like Scrooge".  Perhaps the funniest moment was when she turned to the person next to her saying "was my phone bothering you?" and the person next to her just put her hands up and looked the other way, not wishing to get involved.  The witch on the phone actually said to me: "If you don't like it, why don't you just leave" at which point I said "you have a choice, either watch the show or go on your phone, but not both at the same time - the exit doors are at the front and you are welcome to leave.  It's simply, just put your phone away - and Merry Christmas."     I can't quite find the words for her vitriol but she was virtually foaming at the mouth with affrontery.  My moment of happiness came midway in the second half during Scrooge's redemption scenes and all that follows, where she genuinely looked to be having a lovely time.  I felt happy for her and a degree of vindication - once the phone was put away, she could immerse herself in the joy and beauty of the production, along with her fellow audience members.  It's just a shame that there had to be cross words to achieve that outcome.

Awful audience in Nottingham Playhouse for the matinée yesterday - I was dismayed to see that the large school party who were congregating outside were sat directly in front of us - but it turned out rather needlessly, as apart from one who crunchingly ate crisps from a crinkly bag in Act 2, they were impeccably behaved. It was the elderly contingent who were the problem. Despite a warning to turn off phones, within 5 minutes of the start, a woman behind me had her jingly ringtone at full blast and didn't even recognise it was hers! I turned round and glared, and the friend next to her said "I think it's your phone" before she took it out and attempted to turn it off. Then someone else, I think part of the same group, had their phone buzz for SIX calls till the caller ran out of time during Act 1, and another phone across the theatre rang, AND the phone was answered. But worst of all, there was a clicking beat throughout the play (sounding like two drumsticks hitting each other as in counting in a band) - turned out it was "a gentleman with issues" according to the ushers. At the interval the f-o-h staff were inundated with complaints, and annoyingly (it was not a designated 'relaxed' performance) did not intervene, other than to offer to move people to another part of the theatre - that would have made little difference.

I like a school audience as
I find school children are generally impeccably behaved probably because they have had the riot act read to them beforehand. Also children give good reactions possibly in part because they don't know the show. (Gasps when people die in West Side Story)
On the other hand I find the older audiences who are old enough to know better are a nightmare as they don't know how to turn their phones off and talk through the show. I hate a midweek matinee for that reason.

Today I visited the Yvonne Arnaud theatre in Guildford for the first time for the matinee of the new tour of Pride and Prejudice* (sort of).
99% of the audience were exactly what I would expect at a matinee, old or families there to enjoy the show. 1% were there for a piss up. Around row e (I was row a) with a bottle of wine and lots of glasses. I had a few causes to turn round in the first act but mainly just excitabl stuff like loving some of the props based jokes (no spoilers).
The second act though it went to pot. Loud whispering throughout, talking and singing along! Badly. I saw the house manager come talk to them but he and my glares were useless. After the show they were still loud and came to the front and asked my friend to take their picture!

On the way out I spoke to the manager who was with another front of house and jokingly asked if this was normal for a Guildford audience. While he was explaining that the production had raised a complaint about them and they were keeping an eye on them it was not normal! Just then the banshees climbed up onto the stage, for a better photo I assume, so the manager ran down and 2 more male staff appeared from the wings! The lady FoH carried on chatting and said she had worked there 2 years and seen nothing like it. Both staff were very apologetic and I got the impression they didn’t want to remove them causing more disruption and probably hadn’t had to deal with much similar!