Where has the Audience Gone

We don't go to the theatre as often as we used to and rely heavily on discounts/ticket clubs largely because of affordability. Especially since we bought a flat and that's started to gobble up all of our money, it suddenly dawned on me that £30 per ticket being considered 'affordable' is bonkers, particularly considering the cost of travelling to Central from zone 6 and the necessity of buying food, drinks etc since we have to go straight from work on a weeknight.

Case in point: I really want to see The Toxic Avenger and have heard amazing things, but the ticket prices are completely obscene. The best deal I can find for this, considering it's a pretty obscure show, is £39 per ticket to sit right at the back. It's crazy and I refuse to believe demand and sales are justifying this cost.

Ultimately, though, it's the audience. In my experience, the standard of behaviour has been in a sharp decline over the years and this shows no sign of stopping. I cannot put into words how much I resent paying somewhere around £70 for a pair of tickets, then £12.40 for tube travel, then roughly £20 on a quick dinner, then (if we're feeling extravagant) another £10 on a drink each, only to end up once again sitting next to a group of arseholes whose conversation simply has to happen *right there and then* and cannot wait for the interval or the journey home. The entire experience, when all is said and done, often costs upwards of £100 and can be completely ruined in an instant by one person in 1,000.