Shmendrick Posted January 16, 2014 Share Posted January 16, 2014 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. A lot of things have a venerable history but thankfully as a society we decided they were no longer acceptable. Would it be overdramatic to suggest Sweeney Todd style chairs that tip noisy people backwards and into a cellar where they can remain for the rest of the performance? 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anjuli_Bai Posted January 16, 2014 Share Posted January 16, 2014 A lot of things have a venerable history but thankfully as a society we decided they were no longer acceptable. Would it be overdramatic to suggest Sweeney Todd style chairs that tip noisy people backwards and into a cellar where they can remain for the rest of the performance? The cellar might become more interesting than the stage. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alison Posted January 16, 2014 Share Posted January 16, 2014 Would it be overdramatic to suggest Sweeney Todd style chairs that tip noisy people backwards and into a cellar where they can remain for the rest of the performance? As long as they weren't being chopped up and put into pies afterwards: I know some people might be tempted, but I do think that would be going a little too far 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anjuli_Bai Posted January 17, 2014 Share Posted January 17, 2014 As long as they weren't being chopped up and put into pies afterwards: I know some people might be tempted, but I do think that would be going a little too far soylent green, anyone? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fonty Posted January 17, 2014 Share Posted January 17, 2014 soylent green, anyone? Although, with today's obesity problems, might they be a bit fatty? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Don Q Fan Posted January 17, 2014 Share Posted January 17, 2014 Re the drinks - the carpet at the Liverpool Empire is sticky no doubt from the drinks that have been spilled - I can't believe how people can't wait 45 minutes max to get a drink or eat their noisy sweets. I think theatres need a Quiet Zone where really interested people can go to sit undisturbed! I find that in Berlin and Paris there is none of this drinks in the auditorium business and here only ROH seems to ban it -good on them I say. Can anyone tell me about the days before smoking in public spaces was banned did people smoke in the auditorium? Did they do this at ROH as well? Am interested to hear - particularly whether this happened when Margot Fonteyn and Rudolf Nureyev were dancing! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LinMM Posted January 17, 2014 Share Posted January 17, 2014 It's strange but I can't remember very well!! I think people definitely smoked in the intervals but I don't remember anyone smoking during the performances at the ROH anyway. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alison Posted January 17, 2014 Share Posted January 17, 2014 I find that in Berlin and Paris there is none of this drinks in the auditorium business and here only ROH seems to ban it -good on them I say. I don't think they were being particularly altruistic: I had a feeling it had to do with a nasty ice-cream stain on their brand-new upholstery soon after they re-opened, and then they banned food and drink from the auditorium. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GTL Posted January 18, 2014 Share Posted January 18, 2014 Don Q Fan, rumour has it that 1960s audiences enterered into the spirit of things by smoking their way through the Bayadere Kingdom of the Shades scene irrespective of who was dancing it, but we're not talking about tobacco here. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
taxi4ballet Posted January 18, 2014 Share Posted January 18, 2014 I think theatres need a Quiet Zone where really interested people can go to sit undisturbed! The auditorium, perhaps?!! 8 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anna C Posted January 20, 2014 Share Posted January 20, 2014 Just as well none of you have to tolerate me at the theatre then; I *always* have a small bottle of water or carton of juice with me in the auditorium. I have to take medication at regular intervals and some of the medication gives me an uncomfortably dry mouth. Mind you, I've never been stopped from taking drink into the auditorium, even after having my bag searched. Perhaps the crutches and umpteen different medications invoke sympathy - or perhaps I have an innocent face. :-D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest chinafish Posted January 20, 2014 Share Posted January 20, 2014 I don't know if this was mentioned on the thread before. Saturday night at the Coli there was a couple in front of me, the lady used her phone as a light source to check the cast sheet. During the Act 1 pas de deux between Gulnare and Lankendem. And then at various points, the man was straining to read the synopsis, again during the dancing. Why bother paying for a ticket! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jan McNulty Posted January 20, 2014 Author Share Posted January 20, 2014 Just as well none of you have to tolerate me at the theatre then; I *always* have a small bottle of water or carton of juice with me in the auditorium. I have to take medication at regular intervals and some of the medication gives me an uncomfortably dry mouth. Mind you, I've never been stopped from taking drink into the auditorium, even after having my bag searched. Perhaps the crutches and umpteen different medications invoke sympathy - or perhaps I have an innocent face. :-D I don't have an issue with bottled water or juice Spanner. My issue is with glasses and fizzy drinks that open with a fizzing noise. I often have a bottle of water in my bag and have occasionally had to use it. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LinMM Posted January 20, 2014 Share Posted January 20, 2014 I think a drink "sealed" in a plastic bottle as it were is okay.....it's open glasses of drink that would bother me because of potentially knocking them over and the spillage result etc. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Odyssey Posted January 20, 2014 Share Posted January 20, 2014 I must share an incident from back in the 80's during a performance of Carmen at Birmingham Hippodrome by the Welsh National Opera It was a modern production, set if I remember rightly in a circus with guerrilla freedom fighters. It was only my second visit to the opera and I didn't have any preconceptions about staging a traditional opera in this way- unlike a small party in front of me. Initially they booed at the end of the first couple of arias, but then began to vent their feelings actually during the singing. It culminated in them walking out with loud cries from one "I don't pay good money to watch such crap," which sounded throughout the auditorium. Subsequently, the audience responded at every opportunity with hearty applause and banging their feet on the floor during the curtain calls. I had no idea at the time that this was unusual audience behaviour. I just thought opera goers must be pretty passionate about this art, but I have certainly never witnessed anything quite so extreme in any theatre since. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alison Posted January 20, 2014 Share Posted January 20, 2014 Spanner, I invariably take a (plastic) bottle of (still) water into theatres, concert halls etc. with me to ward off the dreaded cough, and nobody official has ever complained - except of course for the ballet at the O2, where we had to take the caps off the bottles of water "for safety reasons". The bottle then got knocked over, of course Oh, and I was actually posting to ask why some audience members in completely dark theatres insist on clapping their hands above their heads. It's not as if the performers can see them, and all it does is block the view of the person behind. I'll admit to having done it at about face-height in a concert hall when it can be seen, but in complete darkness? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fonty Posted January 20, 2014 Share Posted January 20, 2014 Spanner, I invariably take a (plastic) bottle of (still) water into theatres, concert halls etc. with me to ward off the dreaded cough, and nobody official has ever complained - except of course for the ballet at the O2, where we had to take the caps off the bottles of water "for safety reasons". The bottle then got knocked over, of course I don't remember that at the O2, but I do remember them taking away the cap on my empty water bottle when I went to see the Olympic football at Wembley stadium. When I asked why, they said it was for safety reasons. When I questioned them further, they said that people might throw the caps on to the pitch. Given the size of Wembley, and the fact that he was admitting me to a seat somewhere up at the back, I wondered whether I should try for the next Olympics in some sort of field event? Shame that football fans are apparently so badly behaved, because it means we all suffer the consequences. 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LinMM Posted January 20, 2014 Share Posted January 20, 2014 You can be very funny Fonty Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anna C Posted January 20, 2014 Share Posted January 20, 2014 They do take the lids from water bottles at the O2 and at Wembley. Apparently it is to stop people throwing full bottles of liquid, as this makes for a heavy and dangerous missile. Obviously if you throw an un-lidded bottle, most of the water would presumably fly out. Being permanently on crutches is quite handy - as I clearly can't carry an unsealed bottle while propelling myself, almost all security guards are kind and let me keep the lid on my water. Mind you, it probably helps if you look law abiding and well behaved. :-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aruna S Posted January 21, 2014 Share Posted January 21, 2014 I was watching a documentary about the great Claudio Abbado who passed away yesterday, and thought I'd share a comment he made about audiences. He said that people often asked him what he thought was the best kind of audience, and he felt that a good audience is one which listens quietly, so that when something like Verdi's Requiem comes to an end, there is absolute silence, people seem to be holding their breath such is their involvement in the music, and it's a long time before they start applauding. 7 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ellie Posted January 21, 2014 Share Posted January 21, 2014 afds...I couldn't agree more. I know that if I feel truly moved by a piece of music or dance it takes a few moments to digest what I've seen or heard, and then applaud. x 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
loveclassics Posted January 22, 2014 Share Posted January 22, 2014 afds...I couldn't agree more. I know that if I feel truly moved by a piece of music or dance it takes a few moments to digest what I've seen or heard, and then applaud. x My pet hate is when over-enthusiastic members of the audience interupt the action in a dramatic ballet with prolongued applause for a particular solo. It not only breaks the mood but frequently infects the dancers. The worst example I saw was a famous principal* dancing Albrecht, getting such an ovation after his 'danced to the point of death' solo that he bounded up with a broad grin and stood, holding his arms out to the audience encouraging their excesses for several minutes while Giselle, Myrtha and the other wilis were left aimlessly waiting around for him to get back into character. 10 points for technical ability but minus a few thousand for artistic impression... * And, no, he wasn't Russian in case you were wondering. 9 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fonty Posted January 22, 2014 Share Posted January 22, 2014 Oh come on, loveclassics, give us a clue! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aruna S Posted January 22, 2014 Share Posted January 22, 2014 * And, no, he wasn't Russian in case you were wondering. May I hazard a guess? Was he Italian? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chrischris Posted January 22, 2014 Share Posted January 22, 2014 Not technically an audience behaviour, but I am always exasperated by how many people aren't able to work the revolving doors at the ROH. It's really not that difficult, but I think every time i've been there someone has pushed the glass or done something to make them stop. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alison Posted January 22, 2014 Share Posted January 22, 2014 Well, if we're going to include things like that, then the awful habit of way too many audience members of hanging around in the cloakroom area to wait for their friends and/or put their coats on and totally clogging up the passage is really annoying, too It only takes a bit of common sense, doesn't it? Only the other night, I took one look, walked out through the doors into Bow Street and came back into the box office link via the revolving doors. Otherwise it would probably have taken me 5 minutes to fight my way through. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
loveclassics Posted January 23, 2014 Share Posted January 23, 2014 * And, no, he wasn't Russian in case you were wondering. May I hazard a guess? Was he Italian? Oh so you saw it too! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aruna S Posted January 23, 2014 Share Posted January 23, 2014 Oh so you saw it too! No, I didn't, but it seemed the kind of thing that dancer would do Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jacqueline Posted January 23, 2014 Share Posted January 23, 2014 Can I mention the ROH ladies lavatory facilities under audience behaviour? The ones just round the corner from the cloakroom seem to be the main event and there is some sort of system whereby you go in through one door and exit through the other. I have queued along with others, only to find some ladies just walking straight past and going in through the out door, regardless of the queue and the tutting. I did say once there is a queue, and was looked at with such pity. Once you get in, it is in any case a free for all looking out for a vacant cubicle. So for anyone who goes regularly - to the theatre that is - is one supposed to queue or do you just walk in? It seems polite to queue and wait one's turn as most people seem to, but is it more that we Brits apparently just like to queue. When it is our turn to pass through the in doorway, we also seem happy to hold the door open, then pass this duty to the next entry. Usually in silence because people just don't speak to each other. Very strange. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
patsomerset Posted January 23, 2014 Share Posted January 23, 2014 Yes, I have witnessed this behaviour too ie people going in through the 'out' door and looking with pity on the poor souls who are stupid enough to queue! Most people seem to accept that in this country anyway, we queue. I am not sure we enjoy it, but it is something we have always done because it does seem to ensure fair play, so to speak. And, yes, we hold the door open in turn too. What else can you do when you are standing in the doorway? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jacqueline Posted January 23, 2014 Share Posted January 23, 2014 Oh good, glad it is not just me! I take it from your comments Pat, that you queue? I think you are right in that it appeals to a sense of fair play. I don't mind as long as the queue is moving and there is some order to proceedings. Perhaps if a steward stood outside to direct people towards the queue, who would otherwise go in through the out door, the process would actually be quicker, as it usually is when there is some order. But should one queue? Is it just that wherever there is a space, a queue shall form? Staff to marshal proceedings would alleviate a few of the problems at the ROH, with areas getting crowded and so on. They don't seem to be very interested in customer comfort, it seems more the case that you've paid your money and you can make the best of it. I don't know about other venues. Perhaps they are all the same. Of course, it doesn't help that we live in such a selfish and discourteous world. But done politely but firmly, people will generally follow directions. Particularly if coming from someone in authority. As for holding the door open, as you say what else can you do? It just seems part of the ritual, when you get to that point, you know it won't be long before the big prize. Then somebody walks straight past you!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fonty Posted January 23, 2014 Share Posted January 23, 2014 Can I just say that I know the loos you mean, and I have in the past walked in through the wrong door, not realising that I was going in the Out one (if you get my meaning.) There was no queue at the time, so it wasn't actually a problem, and I only realised there were two doors when somone came in the other door. Do they actually say Entrance and Exit? Or was I just being a bit stupid? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aileen Posted January 23, 2014 Share Posted January 23, 2014 I queue and I hold the door open for people. I thought that most people did. I take the bus a lot and find that most people of all ages and classes queue and don't barge past other people when they are getting onto the bus. Sometimes, there isn't a clearly identifiable queue, however. I haven't noticed any particular problem at the ROH although, personally, I find quite a lot of people at the ROH quite stand-offish, but perhaps I come across that way too! I don't include the staff in this; I find them unfailingly friendly, courteous and professional and I feel that they have quite a demanding job, especially the bar staff who are often rushed off their feet. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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