What Should & Shouldn't Be Allowed??

That's a bugbear of mine - people who either remain seated at the end of the show or take ages to put on a coat, scarf and whatnot at their seat, making it impossible for those in the row to move past and leave.  I understand that some people are not in a rush and would rather wait until most people have left the theatre, but there are plenty who either -are- in a rush to catch a train home or simply to get out as soon as possible. Is it so hard to take your coat and stuff with you out of the row and put it on at the side where there's much more space to manoevre?

As for taking drinks into the auditorium - generally I don't mind, but in one or two instances I had someone sitting directly beside me with a cup of wine (and holding on to the wine for a long time), so I constantly had the smell of wine in my nose. Might not be as bad as perfume, but not very pleasant either.

I skipped King Charles III in November as I had a stinking cold that had moved to the chest and which meant I was coughing every couple of minutes.

This! I'm usually rushing out of the theatre to catch a train and people are always dawdling to put their coat on or they're chatting to each other. At least move out of people's way if you want to chit chat or do it on the move!

I have, actually. I spent about a month with a persistent cough and passed up a couple of concerts I was on the fence about (I was living in California at the time and there were no actual shows happening). I also hadn't bought any tickets in advance for performances happening during that cough month, so... you're welcome, everyone.

Very true on the whole. The flip side of that is the few idiots about who have said among other things "why do you come to the theatre. You cant see"
She folds her cane up which does lead to some hasty apologies as well when she unfolds it again

Keeping a place for someone in a Day Ticket queue.

I have little problem with that if it's gonna make no difference to the sold numbers (i.e I used to join two friends about 45mins after them but we only wanted 3 tickets therefore only 2 needed to que) or if the person in front says 1 friend would be joining a reasonable time later due to first trains... stroll up 10 mins before opening tho and it's the rare time ill get arsey at strangers

Agreed. I have joined a friend in the queue several times in the past (and vice versa) but we always just wanted one ticket each so it made no difference in the total number of tickets. However, we always make a point of telling people behind us that we are not getting any extra tickets to avoid confusion. :-)

Indeed.

Of course the 'exception' to the Globe queuing rule is if you're a superior Globe person (self defined) and it's last weekend of the season. In which case it's perfectly acceptable to break all of your own rules in the Globe queue and/or misinform people who've never been before so you and your cronies get 'prime position'

Yes, my experience last year put me off setting foot in the place ever again...

Many times at the end of the shows there is A LOT of garbage on the floor. Plastic bags, cups, empty packagings of various kinds of food, paper towels, kleenex...
Ok, ushers are payed to clean up after the shows, but this doesn't give you the permission to act like a bunch of pigs. It's disrespectful on so many levels.

A self defined superior Globe person?

I've been told before in the queue before that last shows of stuff could get bad as the stewards (are they called that?) had been given tickets and then saved lots of spaces for friends. I get really grumpy in that queue if people start having friends show up, as noted already a friend is fine or perhaps two (at some point there seemed to be a rule that you could save one space per person if you had their ticket but how exactly can you check) but a whole group of people and then I am that person complaining in what i hope is a perfectly polite manner. When i have done this the people have always seemed very surprised that i'm bothered but have gone back down the queue, apart from the person who told us all they were short and could therefore go to the front and we were so surprised which just watched her do it. From my experience repeat visitors know the deal it's the first time groups or trips that don't and send one person along and then all traipse up hours later.

Misinforming people, that's just plain wrong, there are always newbies looking a bit lost and I've always taken care to explain how it works if they want to know.

It is largely the off-duty stewards though. They seem to have forgotten the school trip maxim of "you're not in your uniform but you're still representing the school", and either don't realise or don't care how identifiable they are. I don't usually go to opening or closing performances, but I still wince when I see one of them without their tabard. Some of them are just as bad at other theatres too, it's extremely annoying.