Age Suitability

yes and no!

I have hated being at the theatre when there are children too young to be at the theatre

We went to see My Neighbour Totoro and while it is child friendly - toddlers aren't old enough to sit still that long. It was really distracting to be sat near them.

As soon as you make theatre for kids, kids will go - even if they aren't mature enough to behave.

Conversely, there are a lot of children who can handle 'older' plays. One person's line is not the same as another's. There are so many plays currently on that are completely suitable for children that there is no need for grown up kids theatre.

It mostly bugs me when parents see the word "musical" and think "Oh! I'll bring the kids!" I sat through a performance of Blood Brothers once next to a little girl who didn't understand anything that was going on and talked and asked her mother questions all the way through it. Take them to a panto by all means but leave the plays and musicals until they're older.

A few instances spring to mind of kids dragged to stuff they’re not old enough for. I saw A Midsummer Night's Dream where a couple thought it would be a good idea to take their toddler, who then spent over an hour of the show loudly asking variations of “what’s that Mummy?” Even one of the actors was like 😡.

Comedy version of Three Musketeers. Another toddler, this one armed with multiple toys, kept dropping them, until one went through a little gap in front of the stage and fell a surprisingly long way with multiple bangs and clangs on its way down. He then proceeded to start lifting up the “grass” at the front of the stage while one of the actors was looking at the mum as if to say “are you going to do anything about that?”

Most recently at Gangs of New York. A couple wandered in 2 hours into the show, with two young boys in tow, just in time to watch what had to be one of the most brutal beatings I’ve ever seen on stage.

And I remember reading on here about someone taking kids to see The Inheritance.

You do wonder what goes through parents’ minds when booking, and why they don’t take the age guidance or their kid’s attention span into consideration. There are kids shows out there, but most look to be aimed at younger kids.

I've had lots, but the ones that stick out most recently:
- a young girl asking her mum what a miscarriage was after the line in Six the musical
- at Fiddler on the Roof this summer a mum had 4 young children with her, that spent the first half asking questions and being extremely annoying, then the 2nd half all with headphones on and playing on glowing I pads - the ushers did nothing
- at Benjamin Button last week, the front row of the stalls had 2 toddlers with their family, they kept climbing onto their parents and asking to go out to the toilets - it was annoying seeing it from the dress circle, dread to think what it was like for people behind them

Call me an old grump. I know they do relaxed performances etc. I wish they also did strict child/drink/food free performances - I would happily pay extra for that.

I think it depends on the child. My parents took me to the theatre at an early age to things that probably wouldn't be classed as appropriate. That's because they trusted I would behave and engage with the show (even if I didn't understand it, which was probably best some of the time!). Equally, it's up to parents to decide when to introduce topics to children and answer those questions they have. Being uncomfortable that a child is in the audience of anything if they are well behaved is a you problem.

For me, this early exposure of ""sophisticated"" theatre has led to a life long love of the medium.

I think pantomime is often to blame for bad behaviour as this is often children's first experience of theatre and so those rowdy interactions create bad habits early on. That stays with them into adulthood.

So because of this, if the parent thinks the child is up for a more mature production and they are aged over the age recommendation of the show, I see no reason to not take them along.

Not all children are whiny brats. You probably only notice children at the theatre when they are badly behaved but that goes for any audience member.

Obviously, parents that are consistently dragging along un-engaged, badly behaved children repeatedly to the theatre are irresponsible. That is selfish on their part for the audience around them and their own kids. People seem to have lost a sense of embarrassment in how they act at the theatre, as seen on the bad behaviour thread, and that extends to parenting their children as well.

As a teenager (16 so within the board rules), my parents don’t check the age recommendations at all which leads to some sticky situations. Now that I’m earning and booking and paying for the theatre myself I always check the age suitability and content warnings to be safe. When we saw standing at the Sky’s edge, mum didn’t check the content warnings so was very shocked with the (spoiler) knife attack that happens. Most productions do have an age recommendation but it’s not strict and they are usually really vauge and go for either 12+ or 16+. Or even worse the dreaded “parental discretion” which is even more vauge!

Hmmm - depends.  My children were taken to theatre from very early ages - Lion King, Matilda etc.  My youngest saw JCS at Regent's Park when she was 5, A Christmas Carol at the Old Vic when she was 6 - both carry quite impactful themes (JCS was particularly "bloody").  I don't think it affected her and she understood both clearly and was no bother to anybody else in the audience.  Interestingly now, at 13, she has her own altar and is interested in witchcraft - I wonder how much of what she has seen has broadened her mind and provoked her curiosity.  We will never know.  It's easy to say when my own children have always had impeccable behaviour in theatres, but I really believe that parents should determine what is appropriate for their children, but also should be prepared to 'be the parent' and accept if their child is disruptive or noisy that they might need to leave.  I've only ever taken my children out of somewhere once for being disruptive, and that was Marks and Spencers food hall in Tunbridge Wells.  They didn't do it again, such is the power of Percy Pig.

I've had that too! 

And once there was a girl of around 8 years of age - the people with her must not have prepared her at all, because at the end she was in distraught hysterics going 'But why did they die?'. It was heartbreaking. 

Once I was wrong - I could hear someone whispering behind me all the way through act I - at interval I turned round to give them 'a look', and it turned out to be a guide with a blind person, filling in the details. I turned back sheepishly. Upon exiting I realised there were several of them in.

Some years ago I was filled with trepidation when a couple of hippy types and their (approx) 5 year old daughter arrived in the front stalls to see Phantom. I feared the worst, but no, the little girl sat open-mouthed with wonder when the chandelier came to life, and was totally gripped for the rest of the show. It was lovely to see.

By contrast, at Shrek (again, many moons ago!), mother and grandmother brought a toddler in with them (how they got past the rules for no under fives I don't know), who squirmed and grizzled throughout. They tried to explain what was going on, and the child was passed from one to the other non-stop, but refused to be pacified. They left at the interval.