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Post by londonpostie on Apr 28, 2019 12:07:28 GMT
Two things prompt this. The first is an unfortunate pillar splitting the stage at a forthcoming trip to the Old Vic and the second was my reaction to having a Standing ticket for Betrayal, with two empty seats literally in the back row (immediately in front of me) and my reluctance to just shimmy around - I would have disturbed two people in the very back row for 10 seconds. Couldn't do it .. no break either.
Clearly you can't create havoc in the middle of the Stalls 10 minutes into proceedings but if there's an empty one on the end-ish of a row elsewhere in the house and you can reposition unobtrusively .. would you do that before the break? Of just wait for the break and nab it asap? Or stay where you are and accept your lot?
I'm probably being ridiculous but thoughts are most welcome ..
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Post by Deleted on Apr 28, 2019 12:19:17 GMT
I generally stay where I am because I'm always worried that the seat's actual purchaser may just have been delayed, and their late arrival will be EVEN MORE disruptive if they have to turf someone out of their seat. If I'm literally just moving one or two seats along in the same row, I might do it because it's so easy to move back, but never otherwise.
Also, allow me to be the boring person who points out that moving yourself to a better seat than you've paid for is technically theft...
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Post by londonpostie on Apr 28, 2019 13:12:24 GMT
To establish theft you need an intention to keep the owned property of another. I don't plan to take the seat home. I'd say unpleasant rather than "boring".
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Post by Deleted on Apr 28, 2019 13:13:07 GMT
@theatremonkey, you're the expert here, back me up?
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Post by crowblack on Apr 28, 2019 13:52:37 GMT
What would be nice if people in the stalls who leave at the interval told the ushers or somone. I appreciate too that this might be above and beyond the call of duty and prompt a 'yellow sticker time on the snazzy food' style hopeful crowd but I sat in Equus yesterday looking enviously at the front row centre seat left empty in the second half, given the awful sightlines from my full price seat (low stage and lots of actors sitting).
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Post by Deleted on Apr 28, 2019 14:20:03 GMT
I've done it once, whilst a tad intoxicated at the big green London show. 3 of us in a group ended up with far outer stalls seats, there were a lot of empty rows in front and more central so when the lights went down we moved. Ushers were quickly on us to move back, but as I'd legged it I kept going. Then spent the first act sat alone feeling embarrassed and nervous of ushers finding me. Wouldn't do it again.
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Post by Latecomer on Apr 28, 2019 14:27:00 GMT
I once asked the usher, about 5mins before the start, politely, if I could move into empty seat and she agreed, if no-one arrived she would give me the nod when closing the door...and she did. I also think it’s sort of allowed from the pillar seats at the Almeida if the middle seats ar empty but you do then have a moral duty to slump in your seat and not be tall!!!  People behind get remarkably grumpy as they have usually started to feel smug about having a better than expected view due to empty seat...and then get annoyed when someone gets a better seat that they haven’t paid for...human nature I guess! |
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Post by Deleted on Apr 28, 2019 14:27:11 GMT
In general I'd say ask an usher. Worst that can happen is they say no! I did this at the Haymarket - moved to a much better circle seat but would not have done that without asking.
In the Almeida I've often shuffled up from a restricted view seat to a better one in the same row if its empty. But I've also there regularly seen the ushers offering people a move to better seats just before curtain up. Similarly in the Donmar they regularly shift standing people to seats in the stalls just before the show starts.
On the other hand at the Old Vic I was ticked off (at great length and in a very patronising manner) by one of their charming staff when I shifted a seat over from a pillar seat. "You DO realise someone may have paid for that, and MAY have tried to return it for resale, and IF they notice you and complain we MAY ask you to pay the difference at the box office ..." etc. I mean they were correct but just ask me to move back!
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Post by crowblack on Apr 28, 2019 14:50:50 GMT
They were more polite to me but still wouldn't let me move from my pillar seat to some empty but far better seats nearer he stage. This was at a sold out show (Girl from the North Country). I'd have thought actors would prefer to see people in stalls seats rather than spaces but I've often seen whole batches of stalls seats empty at that sort of venue. The Barbican has let me move from a circle to a side stalls seat, though in that case I asked at the box office just before the show started (travelled long distance may have helped my case). |
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Post by latefortheoverture on Apr 28, 2019 15:10:54 GMT
I haven't encountered problems when moving. It's rare I move during the first act, I normally ask an usher if I have explicitly seen a seat. Or when seeing company and a few other shows I have went and asked the FoH manager in the foyer, they pull out a map showing the empty seats and I have been able to pick! Aladdin I was moved from the back row to the second row stalls, and company the FoH manager let me and a few mates move from back stalls to row G!
Doesn't hurt to ask, it's rare to find a horrible usher!
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Post by alece10 on Apr 28, 2019 15:29:15 GMT
I once did it at The Playhouse. Spoke to the usher before and she said she would give me the nod 5 mins in if i could move and she did. And once at a half empty theatre i moved further forward at the interval. But then i thought I was helping the actors as they didn't have to see so many empty seats.
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Post by missthelma on Apr 28, 2019 19:00:42 GMT
I think moving before interval is pretty much a no no, at least without the express permission of a member of staff. Spotting an empty seat and collaring it after the interval is a reasonable action but you should be prepared to be challenged and gracefully back down if so. I know of some people who deliberately buy cheaper tickets for some things knowing there is almost a guarantee that people will leave and you can nab a seat. I moved two seats down post interval at The American Clock because I had one of the legendary pillar seats and my row was nearly empty, it would have been ridiculous not to and also faintly ridiculous for the staff to complain. Am not sure I would have felt okay moving from say the Lillian Bayliss circle to a front row stalls.
Of course as Baemax notes above, it is in some way stealing, you are getting something you did not pay for. You wouldn't buy a pair of shoes, then take them back to the shop and just take another more expensive pair because you liked them better. Or if you did it would be shoplifting. This is no different, you bought and were sold, your ticket in good faith on the understanding it was 'restricted view' or 'legroom' or whatever which is why it was cheaper. The reason it becomes more acceptable so to speak after an interval is that the seat is no longer a money making prospect, technically all the foregoing applies but there is almost no chance the theatre will now sell it. However they would be within their rights to ask you to pay a proportion of the difference for the half of the show you see from an improved view. In reality it's very unlikely that they would because, well, why??
Usually I'm too nervous to move, even after a break!
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Post by lou105 on Apr 28, 2019 19:28:28 GMT
Or perhaps the closer comparison is you can't move to First Class on a train just because there is space. I'm such a rule keeper that I struggle to move from an allocated seat in an empty cinema, even if they're all the same price!
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Post by Deleted on Apr 28, 2019 20:10:14 GMT
Or perhaps the closer comparison is you can't move to First Class on a train just because there is space. I'm such a rule keeper that I struggle to move from an allocated seat in an empty cinema, even if they're all the same price! Good comparison! An example from air travel from thepointsguy.com/2017/05/business-class-with-economy-quora/ |
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Post by crowblack on Apr 28, 2019 20:47:23 GMT
they would be within their rights to ask you to pay a proportion of the difference for the half of the show you see from an improved view. the closer comparison is you can't move to First Class on a train Given that venues offer the same seats at different prices depending on the website or time you book them, I don't think they can claim that a certain seat is a certain price. A seat I booked for £10 at the start of one run recently was several times that later in the run. The Old Vic have offer codes where stalls seats are £10 or even £5. As I went in to a show yesterday, the tannoy said front row seats were £5 (best view in the house, given the low stage), and I later discovered I could have got a stalls seat for half the price I paid with an offer code. From a performer's point of view, surely you'd rather be playing to a full stalls than a venue where there are big gaps near the stage while poorer people - often young, the next generation of potential theatregoers - are stuck with a crap view in the cheap seats in the gods? It's not like a train or plane in that sense, and with trains and planes you still get to the same destination - you just get there more comfortably. In a theatre, where you sit drastically alters your whole experience of the play. Perhaps a better comparison might be to yellow stickers on sell-by-date food: for years, some 'upmarket' supermarkets preferred to bin food rather than appear 'downmarket' and allow poorer customers a cheap treat. |
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Post by peggs on Apr 28, 2019 21:29:44 GMT
I#ve asked ushers a couple of times at the interval if I could more and they've let me and I've shifted along a row just as the lights go from behind a pillar fully ready to move back if told to. I worry about getting into trouble moving off my own bat although yes it's very frustrating sat looking at better empty seats in front of you if yours is poor.
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Post by londonpostie on Apr 28, 2019 22:04:43 GMT
Yes, I might do that; explain to the usher I have the Seat of Doom and if they can suggest anything else, please do.
Thanks for all the replies - the police haven't knocked on the door yet (probably all recovering from Line of Duty)!
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Post by Deleted on Apr 28, 2019 22:56:56 GMT
One time I really didn’t like where I was sat (Edinburgh Playhouse; rear stalls, behind a pillar) because of how cramped and hot it was. So I checked the theatre website (they keep bookings open until the last second) and discreetly moved to an empty row nearer the front.
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Post by Stephen on Apr 29, 2019 0:52:14 GMT
I've moved quite a few times recently. I never expect it and always ask first.
I also make a judgement call based on how many empty seats there are. I've never been told no just sometimes to wait until the last second of an interval.
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Post by mistressjojo on Apr 29, 2019 1:40:59 GMT
Only twice I've asked to move seats and both times been refused.
Once was at The Mousetrap many years ago - we were in the back of the circle and the front half was almost empty. But on asking the usher told us basically ' you bought cheap seats so you stay in the cheap seats'.
Other time was at The Playhouse for La Cage - I was in the very back row of the stalls and 4 completely empty rows in front of me. Again my request to move forward was denied as 'those seats cost more'.
This didn't really bother me as I had a clear view and plenty of room - just thought it might look better from the stage to fill in the gaps up closer!
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Post by Deleted on Apr 29, 2019 7:38:43 GMT
I’ve done the complete opposite before, asking to move to worse seats -
couple of years ago I was about to set off to London for a double show day when I managed to fall down stairs and land VERY VERY painfully on my backside (later finding out I had literally broken my bum, or the glute at any rate). The matinee was Imto the Heights at Kings Cross and I had front row tickets. I was in SO much pain during the first act that my grimacing face and occasional yelps of pain must have been rather off putting to everyone around me.
Luckerly the theatre was half full so in the interval I asked if I could move several rows behind and lie down to which a very confused front of house team agreed. Having taken the pressure off my butt I had a very pleasurable endorphic infused second act!
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Post by Deleted on Apr 29, 2019 9:44:50 GMT
If you've bought a seat then you should sit in that seat no matter how many empty seats there are, unless the theatre instructs you otherwise. Anything else just isn't cricket.
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Post by Deleted on Apr 29, 2019 9:47:29 GMT
I have had as an usher the comedy 'I'm not moving at all' ones where someone has ended up sat on their own waaay back in the auditorium when people have been offered a chance to move forward. But frankly, I do see the appeal of being far away from the great unwashed.
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Post by zahidf on Apr 29, 2019 9:55:59 GMT
I move all the time if its convenient and there are empty seats. Most of the Pinter at the pinter I moved from pillar seats to middle of stall seats, and I always move in the interval if I don't like my seat.
Someone got shirty with me when I took their seat at the interval at the barbican cos they turned up late, but if you turn up for the second act, that's your problem.
My feeling is, either they had sold the seat and the person hasn't turned up, so no loss of money for the theatre. Or they couldn't sell the ticket, they aren't getting the money anyway, and at least one of their customers is having a better time at a lower price
The Old Vic really are knobheads about moving people. Young Vic and Royal Court on the other hand are lovely about it. National are 50/50
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Post by Deleted on Apr 29, 2019 10:20:55 GMT
I think there's a difference between shuffling up a few seats in the row you're in at an opportune moment after the show has started or in the interval to be a bit more central (absolutely no problem with that, I'd do it myself, or sometimes the opposite to get an empty aisle seat!) and bring presumptuous enough to assume that an empty seat somewhere else in the theatre by a minute before the show starts means no-one will be turning up for that seat, and therefore moving into it.
The latter is not only rude but potentially disruptive if the person does turn up a bit late, which sometimes cannot be helped. Asking an usher at the interval if you can have the seat if it's still empty is a different matter entirely.
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People behind get remarkably grumpy as they have usually started to feel smug about having a better than expected view due to empty seat...and then get annoyed when someone gets a better seat that they haven’t paid for...human nature I guess! 
