Audience Behaviour

[simonbfisher]

Meanwhile, back in the auditorium ....

 

I have just written to the General Manager of the Southampton Mayflower after watching (or trying to) Le Corsaire last Saturday.

 

We had four women directly behind us who each came in with pint glasses of beer, which they refilled at each interval. So - slurping, beery breath down the neck and, of course, going to loo during Act 3.

 

There was sweet-eater who, when (really nicely) asked if she could wait till the interval said she had bought the sweets downstairs so she supposed it was alright to eat them ...

 

And pour faire le comble, the woman behind the empty seat next to me took off her shoes and socks during the Prologue and danged her none-too-fresh toes next to my right ear throughout the performance.

 

That was, for us, the worst evening yet.

[zxDaveM]

makes rock venues sound quite pleasant! ;-)

[Coated]

That sounds like a love night out, Simon.

 

My price for most bizarre behaviour in a theatre goes to the lady sitting in the front row of Hofesh Shecter's Sun on Thursday. Halfway through the performance she starts rummaging through her bag and then puts on a nice set of slightly furry devil's horns, effectively removing the tiny bit of view that was not blocked by the ingeniously placed large spotlights covering the front of the stage. (Someone in the company must hate people sitting in the first 2 rows, unless the show was meant to be viewed from the waist up only)

 

I was waiting to see whether her horns would light up during the performance, but sadly wasn't treated to that joy. The dingbat then took the horns off at curtain down. I hope it was done for a bet, otherwise I'd have to question her mental state.

[AnneMarriott]

A fan of Hallowe'en, perhaps?

[LinMM]

Perhaps she had just bought them for a party or something and just wanted to check them out for size again!!! Good job it wasn't a witches hat!! Bizarre though.

[AnneMarriott]

Or was she the member of the company planted in the front row to scream at strategic points in the performance?

[Coated]

Or was she the member of the company planted in the front row to scream at strategic points in the performance?

That's what I was thinking first, which is why I didn't ask her to take it off when there was an appropriate moment. The shrieking performer was on the other side of the row and managed to give me good little fright when she first screamed. Very appropriate for Halloween...

[alison]

And pour faire le comble, the woman behind the empty seat next to me took off her shoes and socks during the Prologue and danged her none-too-fresh toes next to my right ear throughout the performance.

 

 

Odd you should mention that: I've had someone fairly recently put their feet up on the back of the seat in front, although thankfully they kept their shoes on.  I don't think it was long enough ago for it to have been at my last visit to the Mayflower, though.  

[Fonty]

Taking your shoes off and putting your feet up seems more and more common these days.

 

I had that at the cinema the last time I went.  Fortunately, they eventually moved to different seats.  In fact, I think they moved several times during the film, including a noisy mass exodus during a quiet moment to get icecreams. 

[Minxette]

Gosh. In Asia, putting your dirty feet anywhere near someone, let alone their head, is the worst offence in manners. The British equivalent is similar to spitting in someone's face or smearing dog poo in someone's hair. It is considered extremely rude and totally unacceptable. Yuck. ((

[capybara]

The New Theatre Oxford has (overly loud) interval announcements positively inviting members of the audience to take their drinks into the auditorium

[Don Q Fan]

This conductor has the right idea on coughing!!!!

 

http://www.classicfm.com/artists/michael-tilson-thomas/news/tilson-thomas-throws-cough-sweets-audience/?cmpid=E.Classic_Notes_13.11.29&cmp=EMC-NEO

[Don Q Fan]

As for food and drink (and feet on seats by your face) have seen it all here too sadly. Recent Nutcrackers at Liverpool Empire were marred by a carcophany of sweet rustling...theo Birmingham Hippodrome offer people tubs to empty sweets into. I dislike drinks being allowed in...spills=sticky carpets my shoes nearly stayed behind at the Empire last summer and the drink spillages smell too last week it smelt like stale ale in a pub. Not good. Would have thought good old Health and Safety would have had something to say !!!

The feet business occurs in cinemas and I have even had it on an aeroplane. It's just the way of some people today..inconsiderate, no manners etc.....

Edited November 30, 2013 by Don Q Fan

[Strawberyy]

I saw the Thursday matinee Nutcracker at the Liverpool Empire. The music started and the ladies behind carried on talking. One said she hadn't seen Nutcracker before and the other replied. "Oh yes I have seen it before on ice." It did make me and the lady next to me chuckle.

[Tony Newcombe]

This conductor has the right idea on coughing!!!!

 

http://www.classicfm.com/artists/michael-tilson-thomas/news/tilson-thomas-throws-cough-sweets-audience/?cmpid=E.Classic_Notes_13.11.29&cmp=EMC-NEO

I saw Tilson-Thomas conducting a Mahler Symphony at the Barbican some years ago when a lady started coughing each time a particular singer stood up to sing. After the 4th bout of coughing Tilson-Thomas turned to the offending lady, giving her an icy stare, while still conducting. Like me, I think he felt the coughing was deliberately aimed at the singer.

[aileen]

Well, the audience was very quiet at the Lilian Baylis Studio last night. It makes me wonder whether people behave worse in larger theatres because they know that they are not as conspicuous.

[Julie 2 Milner]

Last night went to see a production of David Copperfield. A local grammar school filled the audience. I swear it felt like they had been issued with a challenge. How much can you eat throughout the performance. Crisp, sweets, drinks. One girl had a tube of Pringles!!! After the interval they came back reloaded.

 

I was thinking this just does not happen in Munich or I think Vienna. I have never seen anyone take more than a bottle of water in to the theatre I think. I'm sure some must have sweets but can't remember them being on sale at the theatre. Maybe rose tinted glasses and next time I go I'll see I'm wrong.

 

But back to last night. Do teachers not speak to the pupils prior to a performance about behaviour. Mind you didn't spot a teacher either!!!

[aileen]

I think that the cinema 'culture' of eating and drinking during films has spread to the theatre and concert hall and it is not discouraged, if not actually encouraged. What gets me is how people do not seem to be able to stop eating or drinking for three-quarters of an hour. It's the same everywhere: buses; trains; in the street. And then everyone wonders why so many people - and children and teenagers in particular - are so overweight.

[Coated]

I had to tell my normally rather well behaved friend to please not eat in the auditorium. It was quite a surprise when she munched her way through some sweets during an opera, so when she showed up with the same bag again for a ballet I unleashed the inner schoolmarm and gave a speech about inappropriate behaviour at the ROH.

 

My new pet hate are people in standing places who bring in their winter jackets and rustle with every movement. It's particularly bad when they drape their coat over the railing and then lean on them, or wear the inside. Puffa jackets are the absolute worst for this.

 

I rather resent paying a fair whack for a ticket and then have the constant rustling of someone who can't spell 'considerate' in my ear. I can't count the amounts of times where I wanted to drown the person standing behind me if I'm sitting in the high chair in SCS. Some of the clots literally shout in you ear when 'whispering' to their friends or breath in your neck (if you make my hair move, you're standing to close) and then get surprised when you ask them to please stop talking and not lean forward.

 

Do I sound bitter? Well, after 3 performances in a row where this happened I'm getting fairly fed up. This didn't use to happen all the time, and I think the ROH might need to rethink its policies. If I already pay £50 for a ticket, I'd rather pay another £8 to not have someone rustle non-stop behind me than have my performance constantly disturbed.

 

I've had people stand behind me who I didn't notice once during the entire performance, so it's clearly possible to not invade the space / peace of people sitting in front. I never thought twice about booking seats with standing behind, but I don't think I'll book them again. Grr.

 

Maybe you should be allowed to switch places (and ticket costs) with standing ticket holders who are inconsiderate.

Edited November 30, 2013 by Coated

[Julie 2 Milner]

Reminded me of one friend I went to something locally with. She wouldn't stop talking and then took her phone out. I was mortified. Fortunately it was music so went unnoticed.

[Pas de Quatre]

Victory!  At a contemporary performance in a fairly small venue (200 seats approx) a girl in front of us was filming the first ballet on her phone.  As soon as the interval started, a manager firmly told her to delete it, which she did! 

 

However, I did feel for someone near the front who had a coughing fit - entirely brought on by excessive use of smoke on stage in my opinion.

[aileen]

It's a bit tricky asking your (adult) friend not to eat, drink, talk etc in the theatre!

[patsomerset]

I had to tell my normally rather well behaved friend to please not eat in the auditorium. It was quite a surprise when she munched her way through some sweets during an opera, so when she showed up with the same bag again for a ballet I unleashed the inner schoolmarm and gave a speech about inappropriate behaviour at the ROH.

 

My new pet hate are people in standing places who bring in their winter jackets and rustle with every movement. It's particularly bad when they drape their coat over the railing and then lean on them, or wear the inside. Puffa jackets are the absolute worst for this.

 

I rather resent paying a fair whack for a ticket and then have the constant rustling of someone who can't spell 'considerate' in my ear. I can't count the amounts of times where I wanted to drown the person standing behind me if I'm sitting in the high chair in SCS. Some of the clots literally shout in you ear when 'whispering' to their friends or breath in your neck (if you make my hair move, you're standing to close) and then get surprised when you ask them to please stop talking and not lean forward.

 

Do I sound bitter? Well, after 3 performances in a row where this happened I'm getting fairly fed up. This didn't use to happen all the time, and I think the ROH might need to rethink its policies. If I already pay £50 for a ticket, I'd rather pay another £8 to not have someone rustle non-stop behind me than have my performance constantly disturbed.

 

I've had people stand behind me who I didn't notice once during the entire performance, so it's clearly possible to not invade the space / peace of people sitting in front. I never thought twice about booking seats with standing behind, but I don't think I'll book them again. Grr.

 

Maybe you should be allowed to switch places (and ticket costs) with standing ticket holders who are inconsiderate.

 

 

I am feeling so much better having read this and all the other recent comments on annoying/unacceptable behaviour. It's good to know you are not alone in feeling grumpy and hard done by.  I do feel that things have got worse of late and pretty sure it stems from behaviour in cinemas although I have to say that the audiences at my local Odeon are very well behaved.  Some people do buy a glass of wine and bring it back in but most evenings you can hear a pin drop during the performance itself.  Perhaps the ROH are trying too hard not to be labelled elitist.  Has anyone tried writing to the management?

[alison]

I had to tell my normally rather well behaved friend to please not eat in the auditorium. It was quite a surprise when she munched her way through some sweets during an opera,

Some of us had to put up with the munching of an apple or similar the other night: the person was admittedly being quiet, but not, unfortunately, noiseless. I wouldn't have minded so much if it hadn't been directly after the interval, and wonder what the person was doing then that they couldn't eat it.

[Fonty]

I am feeling so much better having read this and all the other recent comments on annoying/unacceptable behaviour. It's good to know you are not alone in feeling grumpy and hard done by.  I do feel that things have got worse of late and pretty sure it stems from behaviour in cinemas although I have to say that the audiences at my local Odeon are very well behaved.  Some people do buy a glass of wine and bring it back in but most evenings you can hear a pin drop during the performance itself.  Perhaps the ROH are trying too hard not to be labelled elitist.  Has anyone tried writing to the management?

 

 

I think it is something to do with cinema behaviour, yes.   The fact that there are no programmes at the cinema aimed specifically at children, such as the Disney films, means that younger people are brought up watching these things in their own home.  We all know that under those circumstances, you don't learn to sit quietly and not disturb other people.  Plus, we all use the pause button to convey important information about the gas bill, or to leave the room to make tea, use the loo, and so on.  So consequently I really believe this then progresses on to the sort of behaviour I am starting to see more and more at live theatre performances.

 

People think nothing of rustling, eating, chatting, or pushing past you to go out, and more to the point the ushers often let them return*.  Perhaps they should begin in cinemas, and say if you leave, you can't come back in again. 

 

*Edited to add they don't do this at the ROH.  Yet. 

Edited December 2, 2013 by Fonty

[toursenlair]

Perhaps they should begin in cinemas, and say if you leave, you can't come back in again. 

 

 

But then what about the person who goes out to spare everyone else from hearing an uncontrollable coughing fit? Shouldn't they be allowed to come back in again (discreetly) once the coughing is over?

[bangorballetboy]

The fact that there are no programmes at the cinema aimed specifically at children, such as the Disney films, means that younger people are brought up watching these things in their own home. 

 

You must have a rather staid (or small) cinema near you.  All the cinemas here show animated films on release and most have programmes specificaly aimed at children (or even kids' clubs).

[Ellie]

Last night went to see a production of David Copperfield. A local grammar school filled the audience. I swear it felt like they had been issued with a challenge. How much can you eat throughout the performance. Crisp, sweets, drinks. One girl had a tube of Pringles!!! After the interval they came back reloaded.

 

I was thinking this just does not happen in Munich or I think Vienna. I have never seen anyone take more than a bottle of water in to the theatre I think. I'm sure some must have sweets but can't remember them being on sale at the theatre. Maybe rose tinted glasses and next time I go I'll see I'm wrong.

 

But back to last night. Do teachers not speak to the pupils prior to a performance about behaviour. Mind you didn't spot a teacher either!!!

On a few occasions I've taken groups of children (ages 6 - 9) to school performances of the ballet. They always behave well, but I have a serious 'talk' with them beforehand However I have witnessed many older children throwing their blazers and ties around and generally misbehaving terribly ...Many teachers don't seem to do anything, I think they see it as an afternoon off work...

[Fonty]

 

Perhaps they should begin in cinemas, and say if you leave, you can't come back in again. 

 

 

But then what about the person who goes out to spare everyone else from hearing an uncontrollable coughing fit? Shouldn't they be allowed to come back in again (discreetly) once the coughing is over?

 

 

No. 

 

Well, maybe they could stand at the back, but not push past everyone to get back their seats. There is no such thing as a discreet push past people already sitting down. 

 

Yes, the latest childrens' films are shown, but they seem to come and go rather quickly.  Plus when I took my nieces to see various shows, the audience behaviour was much as it was when I was a child.  However, my nephew is much younger, and I noticed quite a change in the noise level when I started taking him.  Parents started to allow their delightful offspring to talk, shout, crunch, spit, fight, and kick the seats in front, while they looked on with a fond smile.  And if I dared to ask the parent if they could ask their child to keep the noise down, their response was that he/she was only a child and found it difficult to sit quietly for any length of time.

 

Children have clearly evolved or mutated into a different species in the past 15 years into this bunch of twitchy wrigglers. 

Edited December 2, 2013 by Fonty

[Don Q Fan]

I attended a BRB schools matinee a couple of years ago the kids in front of me were a bit older but 'Sir' who was with them had clearly told them what to expect how to behave etc they were so well behaved that when I saw them outside afterwards I went up to 'Sir' to tell him what a well behaved group they were and that they were a credit to him and the school....I think he was nicely surprised!

Edited December 2, 2013 by Don Q Fan

[Aruna S]

Actually I've noticed at the cinema screenings, where there are hardly ever any children, that it's the adults - and generally the more senior citizens - who make a lot of noise crunching popcorn and chattering. During Giselle a few years ago one lady, whose companion remonstrated with her because she was so noisy, said loudly that you couldn't go to the cinema without eating popcorn. And then of course they take this behaviour into the theatre as I noticed as La Sylphide in Rome. Mostly the children I've seen are very well-behaved, this changes as they grow perhaps because bad behaviour in public is considered cool?

 

I used to be one of those people desperately choking back coughs when there was smoke on stage and am so grateful for the Ricola sweets which can be noiselessly unwrapped and instantly kill coughs. Speaking of conductors, I remember Zubin Mehta turning around and glaring at a man in one of the front rows who was slowly and noisily unwrapping a sweet at a concert in Rome many years ago. You would think the man would have died of shame but no, it made no difference, he just carried on - and he wasn't coughing so he was probably just feeling peckish and thought some candy would be a good idea...

[LinMM]

I agree with you Don Q that children can be amazingly well behaved with a little input from adults.....like the teacher you mentioned.

 

The problem I suppose is people's belief systems and also what appears to be cultural norms at the time.

 

If parents think children can only sit still for 10 mins then that is what they will expect unfortunately.

 

It's time sweets food and drink were banned in live theatre at least.

 

Because Ive signed a few petitions this organisation called change.org is always sending me emails about whether I want to start a petition! Perhaps I should about this!

[jm365]

If you do, i would certainly sign it!