725 posts
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Post by theatremiss on May 25, 2023 18:06:38 GMT
I was at Aint Too Proud on Sat matinee and there were a group of bordering on drunk, loud women about 55-65 shouting out, singing, high pitched whistling and throwing their arms in the air at every opportunity. A young FOH chap asked them to be quiet (and sit down) which lasted about 10 mins. I didn’t particularly like the show so I found them more interesting to watch.
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395 posts
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Post by lichtie on Jun 1, 2023 19:43:42 GMT
And here are the results!
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8,163 posts
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Post by alece10 on Jun 1, 2023 20:05:20 GMT
Talking of urination has reminded me of one night at A Little Night Music at the Menier. A drunk man went to go to the toilet but instead of heading to the toilets he went behind a curtain at the side of the stage and peed there much to the shock of the cast.
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7,193 posts
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Post by Jon on Jun 1, 2023 21:51:47 GMT
Talking of urination has reminded me of one night at A Little Night Music at the Menier. A drunk man went to go to the toilet but instead of heading to the toilets he went behind a curtain at the side of the stage and peed there much to the shock of the cast. I've heard of missing the bowl but missing the toilets entirely takes the whole tin of biscuits! |
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Post by sam22 on Jun 2, 2023 8:50:36 GMT
Talking of urination has reminded me of one night at A Little Night Music at the Menier. A drunk man went to go to the toilet but instead of heading to the toilets he went behind a curtain at the side of the stage and peed there much to the shock of the cast. Not as bad as that, but we were in the stalls at Book of Mormon and my other half decided he needed the toilet (much to my disapproval), he took the door to the right near the front of the stalls...which took him directly into the alley down the side of the theatre, lol! |
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Post by capybara on Jun 16, 2023 12:30:50 GMT
I wonder if there’s anything that can be done to negate the issues you get from being sat next to (or worse, in among) a group of school kids on a trip?
Nothing makes my heart sink more than when they file in around me. I don’t want to ban them! But I do think there should be some sort of warning when booking tickets, as The Woman in Black did.
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Post by Deleted on Jun 16, 2023 15:21:50 GMT
Some shows run school performances outside of pantos especially if the book is on the curriculum. But if the theatres don't have a bespoke performance for that you have to chance your luck. Like having a party of pensioners in or from a day centre etc.
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3,487 posts
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Post by ceebee on Jun 17, 2023 14:59:20 GMT
We Will Rock You. Five mins before matinee starts... Two folk in front get out a cheese toastie each. Quiet eaters, but...really?!!
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5,160 posts
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Post by TallPaul on Jun 17, 2023 15:38:36 GMT
Perhaps they thought they'd gone to see We Will Roquefort You? 🤣
I'll get me coat...
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Post by Deleted on Jun 17, 2023 16:16:07 GMT
We Will Rock You. Five mins before matinee starts... Two folk in front get out a cheese toastie each. Quiet eaters, but...really?!! Hope the toastie didn't smell too much if they had just purchased it and it was possibly hot. Someone eating a non smelling sandwich in their seat before a show I'd be neutral on but only 5 mins before the start is really pushing it. |
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Post by longinthetooth on Jun 17, 2023 16:41:11 GMT
Saw someone try to bring in a pizza once. Thankfully they were stopped at the door, which they then blocked whilst dividing up said pizza into slices and handing them around.
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2,342 posts
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Post by theglenbucklaird on Jun 17, 2023 18:28:08 GMT
Saw someone try to bring in a pizza once. Thankfully they were stopped at the door, which they then blocked whilst dividing up said pizza into slices and handing them around. No point wasting the pizza. Did you get a slice? |
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889 posts
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Post by longinthetooth on Jun 17, 2023 19:34:23 GMT
Saw someone try to bring in a pizza once. Thankfully they were stopped at the door, which they then blocked whilst dividing up said pizza into slices and handing them around. No point wasting the pizza. Did you get a slice? Sadly no. He was with friends and they scoffed the lot. |
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Post by sph on Jun 17, 2023 20:40:56 GMT
Saw someone try to bring in a pizza once. Thankfully they were stopped at the door, which they then blocked whilst dividing up said pizza into slices and handing them around. Back when I worked in theatres, I saw an entire school group rock up 5 minutes before the show. Each pupil had a pizza. They were told they had to leave the pizzas outside and a sad little stack of pizzas sat out on the pavement. But really though, what teacher tells their kids to bring full pizzas into a west end show? |
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3,487 posts
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Post by ceebee on Jun 21, 2023 8:38:13 GMT
Must be the season for bad behaviour or perhaps I am a serial whinger... but... was at "Aspects of Love" last night, very much enjoying the performance, when Mr Ball began singing his theme tune of "Love Changes Everything". Well, you could hear a pin drop. The air left the auditorium as the audience collectively breathed in, in anticipation of hearing his mellow voice sing the song that (let's face it) msot people had probably paid to hear - and possibly the only song in the show that they know.
Cue the stalker of the stalls behind me to murmur the words softly, like some kind of inoffensive but extremely unnerving grim reaper of the theatre. However hard I tried to concentrate on Mr Ball and his voice, all my ears were hearing were the equivalent of a lyrically described performance directly behind me. It was like subtitles for the ears. I turned around and politely indicated with my hand to quieten down as it was hugely distracting.
Instead, the silly old bat increased her monotonous recital of the lyrics, which indeed followed the rhythm of the song if not the tune, culminating in an uncontrolled crescendo of soporific mumbling on the "love will never ever let you be the same". Having excelled in this virtuoso performance of unmatched tunelessness, she proceeded to rummage in her bag to get out what I presume must have been the world's largest and noisiest bag of crisps.
At the interval, I turned around and said "Please could you not sing in the second half? It's really offputting and I have paid to hear the cast, not you." I thought this was pretty polite, but then she and her pal spent the whole interval chuntering and ruminating over the fact that its a song they love, they're not the only ones, who does he think he is anyway, I wasn't that loud was I, nobody else said anything, whats his problem... etc... etc...
I must thank the very kind gentleman sat next to her who gave me my phone back at the interval after it fell out of my pocket on to the floor without me realising. Very much appreciated as (like most people) much of my day-to-day functioning requires my phone and I'd have been stuffed without it. I wouldn't have blamed him if he had rammed it down the old dear's throat to quell her noise, but he clearly had more class and patience than me.
Second half was splendid and mercifully quiet, at a performance I very much enjoyed despite the indifferent reviews.
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3,355 posts
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Post by Dr Tom on Jun 21, 2023 12:38:53 GMT
I must thank the very kind gentleman sat next to her who gave me my phone back at the interval after it fell out of my pocket on to the floor without me realising. Very much appreciated as (like most people) much of my day-to-day functioning requires my phone and I'd have been stuffed without it. I wouldn't have blamed him if he had rammed it down the old dear's throat to quell her noise, but he clearly had more class and patience than me. I could very easily get into a rant about how trouser pockets just aren't big enough to hold modern phones. It's really difficult to find any suitable ones. In the past year or so, I've found two phones and one bank card in theatres. It's easily done. All were reunited with their owners. Well done for saying something and glad the second half was better. |
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Post by sfsusan on Jun 22, 2023 23:40:38 GMT
I wonder if there’s anything that can be done to negate the issues you get from being sat next to (or worse, in among) a group of school kids on a trip? I have to say, I've seen two shows in London sat among school groups and my heart always sinks. But in both cases ('Woman in Black' and 'Medea') the kids were great once the show started. (Well, WIB did elicit several high-pitched screams at the scary bit, but it just masked my quieter squeak.) |
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Post by richey on Jun 25, 2023 19:06:28 GMT
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Post by mkb on Jun 25, 2023 20:31:43 GMT
I'm tempering my judgement based on the fact that the manager's quotes are through the prism of a journalist, but I think I saw enough wishy-washy phrases to know exactly where the problem lies at that venue. |
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Post by harrietcraig on Jun 28, 2023 22:17:16 GMT
Oh dear … I just received an email message from the Roundabout Theater in New York, where I will be seeing a play tomorrow evening. The message includes this — which may have been intended to make people feel comfortable about what they will experience at the theatre, but the part where people are encouraged to “engage with the show genuinely” has the opposite effect on me.
THEATRE EXISTS ONLY WITH AN AUDIENCE — AND AT ROUNDABOUT, WE'RE COMMITTED TO GETTING BETTER AND BETTER AT WELCOMING EVERYONE. SO, PLEASE:
Dress comfortably
Feel free to engage with the show genuinely: react, vocalize, laugh, or cry. Just please do not intentionally distract your neighbors or the artists on stage.
Show kindness towards each other. Don't judge others' responses, and don't presume you know someone else's story as we experience the show in a way that is accessible and unique to each person.
We all play an ongoing part to dismantle racism, ableism, colonialism, sexism, and all other forms of systemic oppression. Roundabout reserves the right to relocate or remove any person from our spaces who disregards our intention to make our theatres welcoming and accessible to all.
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Post by mkb on Jun 29, 2023 10:28:06 GMT
What an awful message from Roundabout.
"Don't judge others' responses.. "
Well, that's contributors to this thread told!
So people can respond in a manner that is as distracting and annoying as possible, and Roundabout management make clear that they will defend those people. Moreover, they will not stand for anyone who dare complain.
How ironic that they couch this in messages about being kind.
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Post by sfsusan on Jun 29, 2023 15:58:33 GMT
but the part where people are encouraged to “engage with the show genuinely” has the opposite effect on me. Agree. And it almost seems like objecting to someone's "genuine reaction" could be considered "systemic oppression" even if their reaction means I can't hear the performers. After all, they don't intend to distract me with their singing along, so it must be ok. This sounds very similar to the nonsense that requesting certain audience behavior is elitist and non-inclusive. |
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Post by oxfordsimon on Jul 2, 2023 14:01:07 GMT
I had an unusual one this week. It wasn't an audience member who was on their phone dealing with emails and taking photos, it was the administrator of the festival.
This person pitched after the interval and spent the entire second half in their phone.
I complained and got an apology from the person concerned and their boss.
But if you can't trust arts professionals to behave properly, who can you?
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Post by n1david on Jul 2, 2023 14:50:05 GMT
I once sat behind a well-known fringe writer and director at the Kings Head to see one of his works in progress. He was on his phone for the entire show. I assume he was note-taking, but couldn't he have sat in the back row rather than the front row, middle?
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7,193 posts
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Post by Jon on Jul 2, 2023 17:02:42 GMT
I don't understand why creatives don't just use pen and notebook rather than a phone.
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