Audience Behaviour

[Jacqueline]

I agree children can be very well behaved with the right guidance. I was at a matinee a few years back of Swan Lake at the Sheffield Lyceum. A large group of youngish children went in ahead of me and one of their teachers must have caught me rolling my eyes. She told me they would be very well behaved and she was right. They took up several rows of the stalls and I didn't hear a peep out of them. Then again, if they found the performance that followed as mystifying and downright tedious as I did, I wouldn't have been surprised if they were bored to sleep. On the way out, I complemented the teacher on their behavior as credit where due. If the adults know how to conduct themselves, the children should have a head start in life. 

Unlike my local mobile library. I was just leaving as the local 'playgroup' arrived. About fifteen children aged around five and their adult helpers. They all swarmed in and I was almost trampled. I said something to one of the helpers along the lines of there are other people here, and was met with a blank stare of the sort you get that means what's the matter with you, they're only children. If the so-called adults have no social skills, what hope is there for the children to learn some manners.

Meanwhile, I was at the ROH, a couple or so years ago, sitting in  my seat awaiting curtain up on Giselle. There was some commotion behind me, which turned out to be an elderly gent trying to access his seat which was next to me, by climbing over the back of it, ideally without kicking me in the head whilst doing so. He explained that it was quicker than walking to the end of the row and then back to his seat and that if I hadn't been in my seat and the lady in hers on the other side, he would have been able to do it. There was a pause, during which she and I assumed he was waiting for one of us to move, but we didn't. So off he went to the end of the row and back. At the end of the interval, we had a repeat performance, complete with non-compliance. Not long into Act 2, the gentleman was asleep and snoring, perhaps tired out from walking up and down the row.  He was awakened quite promptly!! 

As for general behavior, I am sure it is getting worse, not just because I am intolerant of bad manners, and I admit I am. You can't seem to appeal to a person's better nature or shame them into behaving considerately towards others, because so many just don't seem to know what that means. Sometimes they look around as if to say who is it that is behaving badly, it can't be moi? It puts me off live theatre and I hardly ever go now. End of rant.

[Anjuli_Bai]

I think its more than just cinemas and live theater and libraries.  It also seems to extend to houses of worship.  I've ceased going to services or social events in which numbers of children will be expected.  It's not a children's event per se - but  its a family event.

 

I'm tired of being trampled by children on the way to the table with cookies (biscuits) and other finger food.  These children are not deprived - it can't be more than 30 minutes since they've seen food.   The parents watch as the kids rush past the slower moving folk, lay across the table to reach what they want.  What is left is smashed and uneatable.  The parents watch - smile - and say nothing.

 

What is troubling is that when a youngster sees one of the slower moving folk, there is no hesitation in his/her eyes - of care - or courtesy.  We are just in the way.  There is not even a hint of respect - oh silly me.

 

On the other hand, having recently had back surgery and progressed from a wheel chair to a walker and now (thankfully) walking - everywhere we went people held open doors, pulled out chairs, made room.  I can't recall a single instance of uncaring behavior toward someone they didn't know - but needed a bit of help.  

 

I have to say that much of what I read in many posts in this thread concerning behavior by adults in the theater - I have not seen here - yet.  There is some water bottles carried in - but - as yet - no food.  I also don't see the to-ing and fro-ing.  Mostly people do sit down and stay there.  Some chatter during an overture - but not much.  What I really don't like is the screaming and whistling at the end of the performance.  

 

Another big gripe of mine are children who are allowed to run around the tables in a restaurant.  I had one once who was hanging onto my chair as he rushed around trying to avoid being "tagged."  His parents apologized - but didn't stop him.  

 

I think this is getting worse.  I KNOW my parents never allowed us to run around in a restaurant and I never allowed my child to either. Even at home - everyone sat at the table until the meal ended.

 

But back to the theater.  I find that most people are courteous.  I've not seen anything but a bottle of water in the auditorium, no bags of goodies to tear into.  I don't see litter or sticky spots on the floor.  People line up politely to enter or leave.  

 

At the cinema, there is lots of munching and more movement - but I expect that.  We usually go to the matinee rather than in the evening so the crowd tends to be older and more sedate.  Or maybe more sedated!

 

Maybe I'm just not going to the right places!

[alison]

Well, I can tell you that having someone continuously crunch crisps or something similar in your ear while you're watching tennis isn't too great, either.

 

Anjuli, obviously people are better behaved where you live than they are in some parts of London.  I've certainly seen bags of "goodies" brought in and distributed during performances (and this dates from up to 20-odd years ago, too).  And as for church services, although there's a lot to be said for "welcoming" children, that shouldn't equate to allowing them to run riot, or abdicating responsibility for them in the case of parents, both of which seem to be happening more and more, I gather.

[capybara]

[More an effect on the audience than audience behaviour but I don't want to mar the R&J thread with this complaint.]

 

Once again last night, several members of the orchestra left the pit during the performance. Two or three of them did so during the Act 1 pdd no more than two minutes before the interval when, surely, they could have waited. What they don't seem to appreciate is that opening the doors at the back of the pit casts an intrusive light on the proceedings for certain sections of the audience. I've never understood why the habit is permitted at the ROH anyway.

 

And why, when the sides of the pit appeared far from crowded, was all that much-needed seating taken out for performances of R&J?

[chrischris]

I wonder how much the dancers can hear and see from the stage during the performances

[Anjuli_Bai]

I wonder how much the dancers can hear and see from the stage during the performances

  That's an interesting question.  It depends upon the venue (size and accoustics) lighting and the music.  A loud piece of music will drown out sounds coming from the audience, The acoustics of the venue plays a part, too.

 

The dancer can see quite well what is going on in the audience chamber.  Of course, it is darker toward the back of the house- but the first 20 rows or more - are very visible.  Again, this depends upon the lighting of the performance, how dim the house lights are, the brightness of the exits lights.  The slope of the audience seating plays a part too.

[Julie 2 Milner]

My daughter and I went to a 4.30pm performance of Talkwoods production of "A Christmas Carol" yesterday. (Brilliant by the way) in Tunbridge Wells.

25 mins in to the first half massive rustling  from the seat behind, I mean huge. The person was ferreting about in a carrier bag. A few of us turned round to no avail. In the interval I saw it was an elderly couple and they were eating ham baps!! My daughter was beside herself and said in a loud voice could people really not spend an hour without eating.

Second half starts and 2 rows in front a woman tales out her phone and starts checking facebook and messaging. Why could that not be done in the interval.

 

The whole performance was percolated by a very noisy audience eating and drinking.

But it wasn't the children. Of all the children around us none had sweets it was all adults.

 

But a fine show well worth seeing if you have the chance.

[alison]

I wonder how much the dancers can hear and see from the stage during the performances

 

Well, in the case of Sadler's Wells, you can see right up to the back of the Second Circle from the stage.  Not sure about during performances: it would have to depend on the relative degree of lighting, I suppose.

[Jan McNulty]

The woman sitting next door but one to me yesterday afternoon at some point got out her phone and looked as though she was on twitter or something of that ilk.  I asked her to switch the phone off and her response was:

 

"No I won't, why should I?"!!!!!!

 

I told her it was irritating me.  She then hid her phone with her bag over it and carried on!!  As the light was no longer distracting me, I could not further complain.  Literally before the start of Act 2 she got her phone out and activated it, looking over at me.  She then put it away again - obviously seeing if I was rising to the bait!!

[LinMM]

Were you in a theatre which announces......as the ROH do.....that mobiles should be switched off? I know it's always difficult to think of a good response sometimes in these situations but I suppose you could have said that its not allowed in the performance! Though she sounded like the type that will do what she wants anyway regardless of any rules......very irritating!

[alison]

I told her it was irritating me.  She then hid her phone with her bag over it and carried on!!  As the light was no longer distracting me, I could not further complain. 

 

Funny how people think that if they use their phone in their bag it suddenly becomes invisible to everyone, when usually the light is a dead giveaway.  You weren't in London, I take it?  I had a not-so-dissimilar run-in a while back.

[Jan McNulty]

No, I was in Leeds!  My friend told me people were using phones in the circle too.  All this despite a very clear announcement before the performance started that phones should be switched off.

 

I can almost understand (but do not agree with) that people may want to take photographs as memories but to text or tweet????  What is the point of paying to see a performance and then not watching it.

[Mary]

It may have got to the point where the theatres have to do more about this such as blocking the use of all devices. The experience is so marred by some people .

 

At ROH for the Jewels Saturday matinee the people next to me looked round bemusedly as if they weren't sure why they were there. They were still texting, and apparently watching videos (!!) and fishing in their large bags for refreshments ( how to get through half an hour eh) when the conductor walked out. I caught flashing lights from my sideways vision, and eventually had to nudge the one next to me who looked at me in amazement.

Then during a very quiet moment an usher rushed down and reached across me to the middle of the trio hissing: "No filming" and I realised what the light had been- so disturbing me again-and  I felt like saying to my neighbours-"This seat cost £50! and I am not a millionaire, please refund me"

 

Luckily they left in the interval.

[Ann Williams]

I think these announcements should be more detailed and rather more blunt.  They should point out that the use of mobile phones, whether for texting, tweeting or  making/receiving calls is not only distracting for the performers on stage but is also  extremely annoying for other members of the audience.  Current announcements are far too polite!

[alison]

An idea taken up by Sadler's Wells, which asks patrons to switch their mobile phones off completely as the light can be distracting to other audience members.  (I, of course, never actually obey this, but since my phone will already be in my closed bag it's not a problem)

 

I was quite surprised to notice recently that the Barbican concert hall, either deliberately or due to architectural design, doesn't have a mobile signal, yet its free Wi-Fi penetrates in there quite nicely.

[taxi4ballet]

Something else that I feel to be a problem with mobiles now is the copyright infringement issue of people filming performances of any kind and then uploading them to the internet. This is one of the reasons theatres ask for devices to be switched off.

[Fonty]

How about, "Anybody caught using a mobile phone during the performance will be thrown out and not allowed to return.  And no, you won't get your money back either." 

 

The use of the mobile phone has got to an extraordinary level.  I am absolutely fed up with sitting behind people who persist in picking up their emails or texting during a theatre performance.  What is the matter with these people?  Are they trying to impress everyone as to how busy they are?  Well, it's not working. 

 

And don't get me started on people who want to record something on iPads, and in order to do so hold their arms above their heads, thereby blocking the view of everyone behind.

[Coated]

Perhaps it's time that the fierce volunteer ushers at the Globe and the enemies of photography working at the Coliseum start giving master classes to other ushers on how to prevent audience mis-behaviour. It's one of my favourite things at the Coli to watch their ushers sweep in and shine torches at offenders.

[Anjuli_Bai]

Well, folks, I hate to be the bearer of bad tidings but this rustling about and noisy eating activities during a theater performance has a venerable history.

 

I am reading a very interesting book by Neil MacGregor, "Shakespeare's Restless World, A portrait of an era in twenty objects."  

 

Excavations at the site of several theaters, the Globe being one of them, on the South Bank of the Thames circa 1592, have produced some interesting results.   In the excavation was found: items of clothing, believed to be costuming, and items believed to be props, such as a sword scabbard.  But the major number  of excavated items had to do with food.  

 

Since there were no intervals/intermissions, food was sold within the auditorium of the theater - one can imagine how noisy a process that would be!  Sellers shouting out their wares, buyers calling them over; constant movemnt and constant uproar. But the food items themselves added to the chaotic atmosphere.  Samples of food identified by present day botanists are:

 

lots of fruits - both dried and fresh:  grapes, figs, elderberry, plum, pear and cherries.  This was handy for weapons too - or to express one's immediate critique of the play and players.

 

Also:   shellfish such as mussels, periwinkles, whelks, cuttlefish.  Huge amounts of oysters - so a playgoer's dagger was used to pop open the shells (I guess the audience came armed).  After eating the oyster, the shells were dropped on the floor.

 

Drinks were bottled ale and beer.   Popping open the the top of the bottle of fizzy ale created quite a cacophony.  

 

Also found in the excavation was actual cutlery - the better sort sitting in the box seats used them in preferance to the fingers of the lower orders standing on the ground in front of the stage.  

 

With all the eating and drinking, no provision was made for the eventual result - men used the dark corners of the theater.  Ladies apparently went outside - perhaps to the river side.  

 

With all this noise and activity - no wonder so many actors scream their lines.  

[LinMM]

Well they say everything comes in cycles........unfortunately!!

[aileen]

I see from The Guardian today that a 71 year old man shot (literally) another man in a cinema following an argument about the latter texting during the film. The man later died in hospital. An extreme conclusion to an everyday annoyance.

[capybara]

What about the overpowering smell of some drinks people are now bringing into the Coliseum, never mind the constant fiddling with them during the performance? I just don't understand why it is no longer possible for refreshments to be finished off in the interval.

[2dancersmum]

My local theatre states very clearly that use of all mobile devices during a performance is forbidden as it asks for them to be switched off.  It further says filming or taking photographs is in breach of copyright and anyone caught could be prosecuted.  There is a reminder after the interval.  I noticed the staff were a little 'lenient' at a recent production.  It was one by a dance school where the performances were supposed to be filmed professionally for parents to buy a DVD but the school were let down last minute.  The theatre was obviously alert to it though as several of these sneaky recordings appeared afterwards on you tube and all were fairly promptly removed.  In fact only one clip still remains, taken at rehearsal not during the performance but that had to be modified so it only showed the posters DD and not all the other children.

[Fonty]

I assume the answer is that they make more money.  I am guessing that many people did not buy drinks during the interval, because the time you have is quite short for finishing an alcoholic drink such as wine.

 

If you are allowed to transfer it to a plastic cup and bring it back in, then people are more likely to get one in the first place. 

[Jan McNulty]

They've obviously never seen me polish off a glass of wine when the bell rings then!

 

At the last performance I saw in Leeds 10 days ago, the gentleman sitting next to me had a drink in a plastic glass.  I was scared to put my coat down in case the glass got knocked over and all over my coat!  (As far as I am aware there isn't a cloakroom in the theatre.)

 

I don't think open containers (glasses/cups) should be allowed in the theatre.

[aileen]

If you order interval drinks in advance there is sufficient time to consume them. As I've said before, theatres which allow drinks to be taken into the auditorium will not be receiving any donations from me for refurbishment.

[capybara]

I assume the answer is that they make more money.  I am guessing that many people did not buy drinks during the interval, because the time you have is quite short for finishing an alcoholic drink such as wine.

 

If you are allowed to transfer it to a plastic cup and bring it back in, then people are more likely to get one in the first place. 

 

But there's a time and a place for everything.

 

One of the reasons we are growing obese as a nation is because we don't any longer take set meals but eat/drink continuously throughout the day - walking in the street, on the bus/train/tube, in waiting rooms, in the theatre etc etc. as well as in the proliferation of cafes. 

[MAB]

I bought an overpriced coffee at East Croydon station this morning, not because I was thirsty but because all trains were delayed by thirty minutes, the waiting room was closed and I was freezing.  You have a point.

[alison]

There's actually a waiting-room at East Croydon at the moment?  Given the state that station's in, I wouldn't be surprised if there weren't any at all.  Just like the other day, when I came down from London on a train where the toilet wasn't working, only to discover that there was only one functioning set of loos on the station - and of course it wasn't on whichever platform my train had come in on.  And you know what a slog it is up and down those slopes ...

[MAB]

Waiting room on platforms 1/2 is closed for a refurb.  There are now lifts at East Croydon that take you up to the new footbridge; unfortunately they seldom work.

[Fonty]

East Croydon is luxurious compared to West Croydon, where I spent 50 minutes sitting on the platform on Monday in the freezing cold.

 

They do have a waiting room.  Well, I say waiting room, actually it is 6 plastic seats in a room with a coffee bar at one end, and doors that don't close at the other. 

 

That is the good news.  The bad news is there are no toilets.  Not even some closed ones waiting for redecorating. 

[alison]

Well, yes, but East Croydon is a major station on the South Coast line: West Croydon is a local metro/Overground station.  And it's taken me years to discover the shortcut to the tram stop!

[Fonty]

West Croydon is one of the stops on a major commuter route served by the delightful Southern trains, which covers a huge distance.  

 

And the linkup with the Overground is great, but it does mean that large numbers of commuters change trains there.  And given the current weather conditions, we are often delayed for a looooooong time.  So a toilet is not a convenience, it is an essential.