Audience Behaviour

[zxDaveM]

oh wow - well, I must just be lucky in my local cinema. Why can't people manage NOT to eat/drink for a mere 2 hours?

[SusanR]

8 minutes ago, zxDaveM said:

oh wow - well, I must just be lucky in my local cinema. Why can't people manage NOT to eat/drink for a mere 2 hours?

Indeed! I am going to see the  play 'Frozen' this afternoon & I am already apprehensive about the audience.....

[ninamargaret]

I think people are so used to sitting in front of their tv with their never ending supplies of food and drink that they just regard cinema or theatre as an extension of their sitting room

[balletbean]

Not ballet but certainly classical theatre. I was Duty Manager at the local theatre whilst a performance of a Wagner Opera was screened (one of those live screenings). 

Whilst there was a very small 'select' audience in the house for the three + hours mammouth opera, I was shocked to see a couple near the back row open up their Picnic hamper and promptly tuck in to the full menu of sandwiches, cake and bubbly during the showing. But then I felt I would actually end up making more noise to reach them and ask them to stop than the noise they were actually making whilst eating the contents of the hamper. Fortunately they were not near any other members of the audience. A hamper is more appropriate when there is an open air performance in a park or similar. But hey an Opera needs all the audiences they can get in todays modern day fast pace society.  

 

Bless them all at least they stayed and enjoyed the entire performance. 

[ninamargaret]

At my local and very small theatre this week I noticed a member of staff who had seen a member of the audience using his phone after the usual announcement. She asked him to turn it off and returned a short while later to make sure he had done so (he hadn't) but after the second request he did so. Not so easy to do.I'm a large theatre but very effective.

[Alice Shortcake]

14 hours ago, balletbean said:

Not ballet but certainly classical theatre. I was Duty Manager at the local theatre whilst a performance of a Wagner Opera was screened (one of those live screenings). 

Whilst there was a very small 'select' audience in the house for the three + hours mammouth opera, I was shocked to see a couple near the back row open up their Picnic hamper and promptly tuck in to the full menu of sandwiches, cake and bubbly during the showing. But then I felt I would actually end up making more noise to reach them and ask them to stop than the noise they were actually making whilst eating the contents of the hamper. Fortunately they were not near any other members of the audience. A hamper is more appropriate when there is an open air performance in a park or similar. But hey an Opera needs all the audiences they can get in todays modern day fast pace society.  

 

Bless them all at least they stayed and enjoyed the entire performance. 

I think the couple you mention had probably been conditioned by years of attending Wagner performances on stage to bring large amounts of food to a cinema relay.  Perhaps they assumed that if patrons eat during an ordinary film they could do the same during a live opera relay.

 

Years ago, just before seeing ON's semi-staged "Tristan" at Leeds Town Hall, I called at the bus station shop. "It's Wagner, isn't it?" said the assistant. "I can always tell because it's the only time I see well-dressed people with picnic baskets and backpacks."

Edited April 29, 2018 by Alice Shortcake
Missed a bit

[ninamargaret]

in the good old days of The Ring at ENO i used to prepare a Ring Supper for husband and self to enjoy in the interval. A nice salad, dessert and a good bottle were all consumed in the auditorium, and we were by no means the only ones doing it. I think it would be frowned on now - and certainly not when I go to The Ring at ROH this autumn! But having seen their prices for a 'package' of dinners for that production i suspect there will be many surreptitious packets of sandwiches appearing!

[Fonty]

On 08/04/2018 at 07:11, Legseleven said:

We have a habitual stater of factual untruths in our office. When questioned or corrected they can become quite aggressive and will insist, even in the face of their demonstrable - and often demonstrated - inaccuracy, that they are right. Goodness only knows what they are like at the theatre or a concert or sporting event, where they have a different and captive audience. It is very wearing and I wish I felt able to suggest that some sort of counselling or psychological treatment (or even presumably psychiatric treatment) for their habitual lying to ‘big themselves up’ would be appropriate. 

 

Try serving on a committee with one of these people. When challenged, they begin a campaign of bullying.  

[JohnS]

1 hour ago, ninamargaret said:

in the good old days of The Ring at ENO i used to prepare a Ring Supper for husband and self to enjoy in the interval. A nice salad, dessert and a good bottle were all consumed in the auditorium, and we were by no means the only ones doing it. I think it would be frowned on now - and certainly not when I go to The Ring at ROH this autumn! But having seen their prices for a 'package' of dinners for that production i suspect there will be many surreptitious packets of sandwiches appearing!

 

Brings back memories when so many people would picnic on the stairs leading to the Crush Bar and all around.  I recall Colin Davis and his party enjoying their Ring picnics - I should add he was not conducting! 

[Scheherezade]

8 hours ago, ninamargaret said:

in the good old days of The Ring at ENO i used to prepare a Ring Supper for husband and self to enjoy in the interval. A nice salad, dessert and a good bottle were all consumed in the auditorium, and we were by no means the only ones doing it. I think it would be frowned on now - and certainly not when I go to The Ring at ROH this autumn! But having seen their prices for a 'package' of dinners for that production i suspect there will be many surreptitious packets of sandwiches appearing!

 

I've seen people fairly recently - well just before the amphi bar was closed - quite openly consuming their picnics - sandwiches, cake, wine, champagne, own plates and glasses, the lot - at the tables opposite the bar. 

Edited April 29, 2018 by Scheherezade

[RuthE]

15 hours ago, Alice Shortcake said:

Years ago, just before seeing ON's semi-staged "Tristan" at Leeds Town Hall, I called at the bus station shop. "It's Wagner, isn't it?" said the assistant. "I can always tell because it's the only time I see well-dressed people with picnic baskets and backpacks."

 

Back in 2004 when the Coliseum was being refurbished and ENO did their concert Ring at the Barbican (before fully staging it one opera at a time, in the newly-reopened Coli), I remember taking a half day off work to get to Götterdämmerung on time, stopping off at Moorgate M&S, and noticing that every person in front of me in the queue had basket contents identical to mine: two rounds of sandwiches, one for each interval!

[taxi4ballet]

On 29/04/2018 at 14:34, Fonty said:

 

Try serving on a committee with one of these people. When challenged, they begin a campaign of bullying.  

I belong to a club ruled by the treasurer with a rod of iron (the chair is a wet lettuce so he lets her get on with it), and she has a similarly inflexible opinion when it comes to anyone suggesting anything at all. I'm not on the committee, but went to the AGM and had to sit there biting my lip in frustration and annoyance throughout.

She is insufferable. Only her opinion counts - it's her way or the highway, and she seems to get a kick out of publicly telling people that they are in the wrong.

Rant over!

Edited May 2, 2018 by taxi4ballet

[Legseleven]

Good grief taxi4ballet, that is so familiar! They are bullies and usually unsure of themselves so they pick on other people and insist - even when demonstrably wrong - that they are correct. Insufferable. 

[Lynette H]

ENO bans food and drink in the auditorium (but only for musical theatre)

 

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2018/05/05/eno-bans-audience-bringing-food-drink-musical-theatre-shows/

 

 

[Anna C]

Two bad tempered growls from me this morning - one at the 8 or 10 teenagers in the row behind me at the cinema last week who talked, laughed and "whooped" ALL the way during "Avengers Infinity War", barged past my seat to get in and out, arrived late and each proceeded to eat an entire McDonalds' meal.  

 

Then another rant especially for all the people who left the ROH stalls and stalls circle yesterday afternoon the absolute *second* that the curtain descended.  It was only 4.20 pm so nobody was going to miss the last train! The performance didn't run late so I can't believe all those people had to get away without even applauding a single dancer.  The ones leaving the stalls were bad enough as I was in SC row A  so everyone leaving by the rear stairs blocked my view, but then two women right in the middle of the row decided to leave!   So rude. 

 

Thank you - rant over. ☺️

[alison]

And the performance actually finished about 5 minutes earlier than it had been, for the second time in 3 days.

[penelopesimpson]

Appalling manners, AnnC.  Want to hiss at them!

[jmhopton]

I know what you mean Anna C and it does seem rude to both the dancers and everyone else who wants to see the curtain calls and show their appreciation. However, those of us out in the sticks often find it cheaper to book specific trains so while there is no urgency to miss the last train after a matinee you may still be on a tight timeframe to make your booked train/bus. Missing it means you have to pay the full fare which in my case can cost up to a ridiculous 3 figure sum for paying on the day. This Saturday I'll be getting the 8.59 from Preston for the 12.30 matinee and the 4.30pm train back. This should leave me plenty of time to make it to Euston after a 3.20 or 3.30 finish but an earlier train would mean an unseemly dash from the theatre.

[Douglas Allen]

It might be, of course, that those members of the audience who got up and left without applauding were dissatisfied with the quality of performance they had witnessed and did not wish to applaud. Seems fair enough if that were the case. How would you have all reacted if they had really disliked what they saw and decided to boo?

[aliceinwoolfland]

I think you'd have to be on another planet to describe that performance as low quality. 

[LinMM]

Yes to some extent I agree about the "advanced fare" train dilemma but if planned well in advance and bought well in advance you should be able to get a ticket where you are not up against it!  Some people do always put themselves on a tight timetable ....which may be necessary sometimes but isn't always necessary.....just a habit. 

i just wouldn't enjoy the ballet if I was worried about having to get away quickly because I've only got half an hour to get a train!! 

Far better to allow extra time!!

Problems may occur if have bought a last minute theatre ticket of course.... as then usually any advanced tickets on trains available within less than a week of the journey will be few and far between so less choice of trains etc.

These tickets do make a big difference in price though.

For example if I plan well I can get up to London and back from Brighton with my senior rail card for £3-30 each way.

Otherwise it will cost me £23 -50 to travel on any train if coming back on another day or £15 for a day return( at weekends) to travel on any train. So it does pay to plan well. 

Sometimes if I cannot predict which time I'll be wanting to come back just have to grin and bare it and pay more! 

 

 

[Anna C]

2 hours ago, Douglas Allen said:

It might be, of course, that those members of the audience who got up and left without applauding were dissatisfied with the quality of performance they had witnessed and did not wish to applaud. Seems fair enough if that were the case. How would you have all reacted if they had really disliked what they saw and decided to boo?

 

Gosh. It wouldn't even occur to me to do either.  For one, I've never seen a performance by the Royal Ballet that was of sufficiently low quality to make me walk out or boo the dancers.  

Even if I'm not enamoured of the choreography, I can still admire the dancers' commitment and hard work.  If I don't enjoy the composer's music I would still applaud the orchestra, and so on.  I can't imagine a performance at the ROH where every single performer was sufficiently sub-par for me not to applaud any of them.  

 

If all those people who hotfooted it out of the stalls on Saturday afternoon did so because they were dissatisfied with the performance, they must have seen a completely different ballet than the one I watched. 

[penelopesimpson]

2 hours ago, Douglas Allen said:

It might be, of course, that those members of the audience who got up and left without applauding were dissatisfied with the quality of performance they had witnessed and did not wish to applaud. Seems fair enough if that were the case. How would you have all reacted if they had really disliked what they saw and decided to boo?

I cannot imagine that anybody could watch such a performance and find absolutely nothing to applaud.  I remember sitting through Twyla Tharp, hating every minute and very conscious of my friend feeling similar, and wanting to shout 'rubbish,' but:  others were enjoying it  and  I think it is bad manners to spoil other peoples pleasure, and the dancers were terrific.  I wondered at the wisdom of staging what seemed to me some very old-fashioned work presented as ground-breaking, but that had absolutely nothing to do with the performers.

[bridiem]

3 hours ago, Douglas Allen said:

It might be, of course, that those members of the audience who got up and left without applauding were dissatisfied with the quality of performance they had witnessed and did not wish to applaud. Seems fair enough if that were the case. How would you have all reacted if they had really disliked what they saw and decided to boo?

 

Well if someone didn't like the performance they could just not clap, or if they thought the dancers were really abysmal (which doesn't seem likely) I suppose they could boo. I've occasionally been tempted to boo at the quality of a work, not the quality of any dancers, but I don't think I've ever actually done so since it's really only the dancers who would suffer. The trouble with leaving immediately is that it's discourteous to your fellow audience members. (In fact the dancers probably couldn't see them leaving anyway with the lights still down.) 

[ninamargaret]

What really annoys me are standing ovations! Not as common at the ROH, but it seems that nearly every theatre performance,  even if pretty run of the mill, is greeted by people leaping to their feet and obstructing the view of others.

[capybara]

1 hour ago, ninamargaret said:

What really annoys me are standing ovations! Not as common at the ROH, but it seems that nearly every theatre performance,  even if pretty run of the mill, is greeted by people leaping to their feet and obstructing the view of others.

 

This is a difficult one. I have stood up occasionally at the ROH, the Coli and Sadlers Wells after something really extraordinary, perhaps hoping that others would stand too. But they didn't and, on the most memorable occasion (Edward Watson's Mayerling last year, which, at the time, could have been his last), I was told to sit down

[Jan McNulty]

1 hour ago, ninamargaret said:

What really annoys me are standing ovations! Not as common at the ROH, but it seems that nearly every theatre performance,  even if pretty run of the mill, is greeted by people leaping to their feet and obstructing the view of others.

 

Yes, I've found in my occasional forays to see large scale musicals that people tend to leap to their feet at the end ... or even worse, before the end!!!

 

I do occasionally ovate at the ballet but only when I've been so completely swept away I can't stop myself and on special occasions (as the end of June this year will be).

 

I know enough dancers at the companies I follow to know that they really appreciate SOs.

[Mary]

Yes- if it becomes normal to give standing ovations, as seems to be happening in the West End,  the problem becomes- how to display the next level of appreciation? leaping onto the stage  and embracing the dancers?😄

 

[Lizbie1]

9 minutes ago, capybara said:

 

This is a difficult one. I have stood up occasionally at the ROH, the Coli and Sadlers Wells after something really extraordinary, perhaps hoping that others would stand too. But they didn't and, on the most memorable occasion (Edward Watson's Mayerling last year, which, at the time, could have been his last), I was told to sit down

 

I occasionally - maybe less than once a year - feel almost moved to stand after a truly great performance (most recently having been blown away by Lisette Oropesa in Lucia di Lammermoor), but the main thing that stops me is the cheapening of the standing ovation; the feeling that in most places it's become more about the ovator demonstrating how exquisite their sensibility is than the ovatee/s having delivered something outstanding.

[ninamargaret]

I think its the apparent cheapening of it that annoys me. If it's an exceptional performance, fine, but it's the way it's become the norm in many theatres. I did take part when the RSC did the Shakespeare histories in 2006, which was a true tour de force - 8 plays, 5 days, numerous actors all doubling/trebling parts like mad.

[Fiz]

I’ve only done it once, when we saw Johan Kobborg and Alina Cojacaru’s extraordinary “Mayerling” but so did the whole theatre.

[bridiem]

The trouble is that if I stood up to applaud all the performances that have really thrilled me, I'd be jumping up regularly! And blocking the view for others who aren't necessarily quite so excited... So I leave the rest of the audience to 'decide', and on the rare occasion when a lot of people do stand up, usually towards the end of the applauding, I join in (if I feel the same).

Edited May 10, 2018 by bridiem

[BMC]

I agree with all the irritation expressed above - standing ovations used to be really rare and for incredibly memorable performances whereas now they have become standard, particularly when you get big stars appearing. My most annoying one was seeing Christian Slater in One Flew over the Cuckoo's Nest - granted he was very good in it (but not standing ovation good) but he actively gestured to the audience to stand which I thought was really out of order. So I remained resolutely in my seat but of course couldn't see a thing during the curtain calls. Also (and I may be a minority of one on this) I am not too keen on clapping dancers onto the stage unless it's a retirement performance or some such. Much as I love my favourite dancers I feel they haven't actually done anything when they first appear. But as I say, suspect I'm definitely in the minority on this!!