Bad Behaviour at a Show

I ended up watching a screen in the upstairs bar when I was late getting to the Noel Coward theatre, so maybe it’s something they do at all Delfont MacKintosh theatres?

same night but earlier in the show during Act 1 apparently

I don't think GB News had formed by 2020 so not sure it was an issue before then?

Oh dear. That Dr Rachel Broady has taken her shot and missed hasn't she? Behaving in a way which is mindful of the people around you at the theatre is not a form of oppression from the middle classes. It is simply functioning in a society in which you are not the centre of the universe. Plenty of working class people go to the theatre and don't get drunk and scream the lyrics over the performers.

I've just been booking some tickets for Ronnie Scott's. You have to sign terms and conditions under which you explicitly recognise that the venue is not a place for a group of people (large or small) to chat over the performance.

Yes the Bacharach show was really classy. Great music and vocals.

Think Cher has a point.
The original Other Palace and west end Heathers was a nightmare. A competition to see which fan girls could quote/sing and scream their way through the show to get noticed by the cast. Who can forget the tray of cupcakes being slung on the stage?
It was encouraged by CHF who announced the audience reaction made her feel like a rock star.
I think Danny Mac also had a point in his recent tweet, it’s not just be quiet to be respectful to the ‘trained performers’ it’s just basic human kind manners to be respectful to the people around you?

One way to tackle this may be to hit producers where it hurts (their wallet!) and demand a refund for all in your party if you've been disturbed by other audience members. Tickets aren't cheap and whilst I personally hate the complaint culture we seem to live in today there is an element of if you can't beat them join them!

I'm sure the initial response would be to fob off the issue but an increasing number of patrons demanding refunds because of the distress caused by other audience members may, sooner or later, draw further attention to the issue and perhaps see some action taken?

I saw the tweet this morning that contains footage of the Bodyguard singers and oh my GOD it's even worse than I could have possibly imagined, you can barely even call it "singing", it's just some moron bellowing at the top of her lungs with something vaguely resembling the rhythm, tune and actual lyrics of what the trained performer on stage is trying to sing, at what is supposed to be the emotional climax of the story the company has spent the entire evening trying to convey.

While I guess there's positives to be taken in that this incident following the discussion on This Morning earlier that day has forced this issue into mainstream discussion, I really don't see where we go from here or how the situation can be made any better. My wife and I so rarely go to the theatre these days having been regular attendees back when we lived in London, and the number one reason outside of costs is the behaviour of the audiences. The standard was always low and in fairly steady decline but post-pandemic has taken a Wile E Coyote-esque plummet off the proverbial cliff and is now so much lower than even I, a lifelong pessimist with an exceptionally dim view of human nature, ever thought it could go.

I posted a few months ago about going to see Play That Goes Wrong in Birmingham and having the experience ruined by a group of completely trollied women, who could barely sit upright in the chairs after the interval, who graduated from incessant talking to openly screaming at the poor actor who played Trevor whenever he went on stage. He and the whole company did their level best to ignore the antics but it was clearly throwing off their timing and rhythm. And this was on a Tuesday night, unfathomable to me to get so incredibly drunk on a working night. And what am I, or even the people working at the theatre, supposed to do about it? There were about 8 of them and clearly not the kind of people who would react well to being pulled up, and I just don't consider it worth the risk of physical harm or being pulled into their orbit should things really kick off, and I don't believe any FOH staff in this country is paid nearly enough or given appropriate training.

There is a fundamental sickness at the heart of British society, an ever-increasing subculture that revolves around getting blackout drunk before heading to any kind of social or extracurricular event, and the discomfort of those around you is either not a concern or part of the fun. This toxic combination of not being able to conceive of having a good time without being off your face on alcohol and often drugs and "oh my goodness, what are you like" humour in addition to a general downward slope towards total self-indulgence and entitlement we've all noticed since lockdown means that the 99% of the public who just want to enjoy themselves and make it home in one piece are forced to include dealing with such behaviour in our decision with what to do with our spare time.

Clearly, theatres are not going to spend the extra money to beef up their security or stop serving alocohol to even the most inebriated patrons, so no, not seeing where this can go or what any of us can do. It really breaks my heart.

I think there's always been a bit of showing off at the theatre. The difference being that wearing a bright colours or lots of jewellery or sitting in a box doesn't make much difference once the lights have gone down.

Actually, I'd quite like a return to people dressing up a bit more, just as long as they were quiet!

Maybe not the worst behaviour, but last night at To Kill A Mockingbird two or three people turned up after the play had started with drinks glasses in hand.