Audience Behaviour

[Lizbie1]

Not about turning a phone off but at the Proms a couple of years ago: a young-ish woman from the next box kept leaving and having very audible conversations (either on the phone or with an usher) in the corridor outside. When I eventually broke and went out myself to let her know - mildly! - that she could be heard inside, she said, "I don't give a ****, now **** off." (I can't remember whether there were any disruptions after that.)

 

There was obviously something going on, but still... And if it was that important or distressing, why keep returning to the concert?

[JNC]

I really do not understand people who use phones in auditoriums. You have paid (usually a significant amount of) money to be in a theatre, given up your time too, in order to watch and listen to a live performance - a completely unique thing that no-one will ever see again in the exact same way (unless it's being filmed and you can buy a DVD). Can you not just appreciate it in the moment, or at least respect the actors/dancers on stage (and the orchestra of course), and audience members around you who don't want to be distracted by you texting or scrolling through webpages when they want to be in the atmosphere of reverence of everyone watching and sharing an experience.

 

If it really is that horribly boring for you - a bit of a respect to restrain yourself and then you can leave at an interval. I saw a woman recently checking her phone in a performance and 'hiding' it under a scarf or jacket (as if we can't see it - if she can see the light others around you also can!). 

 

I really am glad when people speak up about these kinds of things so thanks to everyone who does so - sadly if the behaviour goes unchecked, people will just more and more think it's 'ok' or the 'norm' and then it'll be an even harder battle to fight! I really do wonder what things will be like 10 or 50 years in the future...ROH is one of my safe havens for cracking down on this (massive credit to the ushers and the regular audience!) and also not caving to the whole allowing food and drink inside the theatre as well.

[zxDaveM]

I think the answer comes down to  - more money than sense - especially if it’s a top priced stalls ticket! I often feel like volunteering my services to occupy their seat for them whilst they can continue ‘enjoying’ their phone browsing. Wouldn’t want them to miss anything!

On a cheaper scale, it happens in the cinema too, which is why I will only go see films on a midweek afternoon, when if the paying audience goes into double figures, it’s a busy showing! And we ar3 all there to see the film, rather than socialise via a smart phone 

[ninamargaret]

it seems a part of our lives now that people photograph practically everthing. At a gallery they no longer look at the pictures, but photo them, they photo, or try to, performances, pets,food, each other,you name it! Do they ever look at these photos or  are they the modern equivalent of hunters trophies?

[Pulcinella]

At the matinee yesterday a woman sitting in the row in front of me in the Amphitheatre was looking at her phone all through Kaneko’s solo in the first act. Luckily it wasn’t too bright, although still distracting,  but I did wonder why she had come to the performance.

[jmhopton]

A year or more ago when I was in the ROH amphi the woman in front of me was using her mobile. I hoped she would stop as I hate confrontations and you just don't know how people will react these days but she persisted and I knew I was going to have to mention it or have my evening ruined. Given how much time and effort it takes me just to get there it seemed an awful waste to let one selfish or thoughtless person ruin it. So I attracted her attention and asked her politely to switch off her phone. She looked at me as if I was mad and said 'but I've put it on silent' as if the noise was the only problem. When I said it was actually the glare of the screen that was distracting she looked totally disbelieving but did grudgingly switch it off. 

Obviously she'd no great interest in the amazing performance she was missing in trying to text someone that could have been done in the interval. For some people today their gratification has to be instant whether it's eating, drinking or using their mobile. Other people's needs don't count. At least at the ROH even though most of the building seems to be devoted to food and drink they do draw the line at allowing it in the auditorium. Long may this rule and the ushers vigilance against mobile phone use continue. 

[Sim]

Hear, hear!

 

Standing in the Stalls yesterday afternoon a woman sitting in front of me kept checking her phone during the Prologue. It was in her handbag but she had to open it wide to see the phone, and the glare was distracting to those of us behind. The gentleman next to me asked her to switch it off, and then I did. She did...and didn’t come back after the interval. If she was bored, at least she had the decency not to come back and bug everyone else!

[trog]

13 hours ago, JNC said:

I really do not understand people who use phones in auditoriums. You have paid (usually a significant amount of) money to be in a theatre...

 

 

The same is true of gyms. You get idiots who do a set and then rest on the piece of equipment for 10 minutes, fiddling with their phone. They could do this for free at home. The body builders gym I use, doesn't really have much of a problem on that front, which is odd as body builders are generally the gentlest, politest and most helpful people around. At the community gym I go to sometimes, phone fiddling is a real problem, although it doesn't affect me too much. There is never anybody on the pull-up bar, and rarely on the dipping bars.

[Lindsay]

No excuse for anyone not having their phone off from the moment the lights go down until they come up again but I did just want to point out that in the modern world some of us have jobs or run businesses where we are expected to be in contact and replying to email almost instantaneously at all kinds of unvicilised hours.  It can also be wholly unpredictable (which is why I find it hard to book tickets in advance) but sometimes I do 'sneak out' to go to a performance in the knowledge I will have to spend every second of the intervals typing away until the lights dim.  Again, I'm not saying it's ok to use your phone in any way during the overture or performance (and neither am I advocating for this being a positive development in workplace culture - I think it's a curse!) but I wanted to make the point that not all phone use is self-indulgent leisure time.    

[bridiem]

7 minutes ago, Lindsay said:

No excuse for anyone not having their phone off from the moment the lights go down until they come up again but I did just want to point out that in the modern world some of us have jobs or run businesses where we are expected to be in contact and replying to email almost instantaneously at all kinds of unvicilised hours.  It can also be wholly unpredictable (which is why I find it hard to book tickets in advance) but sometimes I do 'sneak out' to go to a performance in the knowledge I will have to spend every second of the intervals typing away until the lights dim.  Again, I'm not saying it's ok to use your phone in any way during the overture or performance (and neither am I advocating for this being a positive development in workplace culture - I think it's a curse!) but I wanted to make the point that not all phone use is self-indulgent leisure time.    

 

Yes; and it can be related to family/health issues where constant attention is needed. But, as Lindsay says, this should all be reserved strictly for intervals.

[LinMM]

I don’t think anyone should have to be on call or available 24/7 even for their job!

Another battle that needs fighting ...although some people do like it apparently. 

[Sim]

Somehow the world kept turning before the invention of mobile phones...

[Anna C]

I expect if you’re self employed/own the business or are CEO it’s an occupational hazard.  If you have children who need to get hold of you urgently, mobiles are a godsend.  My brother was in a theatre when my niece had a car crash - if he hadn’t had his phone on, albeit silently, he wouldn’t have known until 2 hours later.  

 

With regard to checking phones in the intervals, I don’t have a problem with that at all.  The ROH encourage people to tweet their thoughts during live stream intervals so it clearly doesn’t worry them.  

[LinMM]

Well intervals are not a problem of course! 
 

But some people do ‘overreact’ to their phone. And in non theatre situations don’t seem to be even hold a small conversation with someone without getting their phone out 😩

Personally I hate it when certain friends ( luckily not most) do this a lot...especially if I’ve travelled some way to see them!! Even texts from well into adult children unless genuinely require an imminent response for some reason can wait for an hour at least....it’s usually not important news at all though! 
Anyway I’ve sort of accepted that you can’t turn the clock back but do think people should at least refrain in the theatre in the middle of a performance....though some are more discreet than others. 

[Lindsay]

39 minutes ago, Sim said:

Somehow the world kept turning before the invention of mobile phones...

It did Sim but they are here now, like it or not, and it seems a little unfair for those who have benefited from a more civilised work culture in the past to be making critical assumptions about the mobile phone habits of workers today.  I am thankful to be old and senior enough to have some control over my communications (although if I choose to disappear offline it often means dropping more junior people into additional work/trouble) but I know lots of 20 and 30 somethings trying to make their way in the 'gig economy' - not least in the arts world - who cannot afford to miss an single opportunity.   

[bridiem]

8 minutes ago, LinMM said:

But some people do ‘overreact’ to their phone. And in non theatre situations don’t seem to be even hold a small conversation with someone without getting their phone out 😩

Personally I hate it when certain friends ( luckily not most) do this a lot...especially if I’ve travelled some way to see them!! Even texts from well into adult children unless genuinely require an imminent response for some reason can wait for an hour at least....it’s usually not important news at all though! 

 

Yes - it amazes me how parents now seem to keep a constant tab on exactly where their adult children are and exactly what they're doing, AND the children don't seem to mind! When I was a young adult my parents would generally have had no idea where I was or what I was doing (just as well, some of the time...). It's good that (some) families are so close, but it seems a bit odd to me.

[Sim]

I am not making critical assumptions;  of course I understand that things move on.  All I am saying is that I am sure there is very little that can't wait for half an hour until an interval.  And let's face it, if you are so busy with work that you can't switch off for half an hour or an hour in the evening or on a Saturday during an act of a performance then perhaps you would be better off staying at home and getting the work done, or being on constant call.  I am saying this as someone who engages a lot with social media and uses my mobile a lot out of hours...but I can manage without it for one act of a ballet.  Like most other people, I then check it during the interval and if anything needs responding to I do it then...not during a performance.

 

I am reminded of this poem:

 

What is this life if, full of care,
We have no time to stand and stare.
No time to stand beneath the boughs
And stare as long as sheep or cows.
No time to see, when woods we pass,
Where squirrels hide their nuts in grass.
No time to see, in broad daylight,
Streams full of stars, like skies at night.
No time to turn at Beauty's glance,
And watch her feet, how they can dance.
No time to wait till her mouth can
Enrich that smile her eyes began.
A poor life this if, full of care,
We have no time to stand and stare.

[LinMM]

Oh God Sim my mother was always quoting from that poem!!

 

Look I now have an iPhone and can spend more than enough time than is good for me on it ......but one thing I don't do is get it out when in full conversation with friends .....over a meal say and start scrolling!

 

I have some younger friends who are self employed but if they need to take a call etc which they may be semi expecting .... always say Oh Linda do you mind if I just take this call ....it's work....and of course I don't mind. 

But some people just act as if you are not there. 

 

Once on a train up to London I bumped  into a friend....not a close one but someone I knew quite well ....and we hadn't seen each other for a while. Anyway we started chatting and I was just telling her something....that she wanted me to tell her....when she got her phone out and started scrolling. So I just stopped talking and after about a minute or two she said ....carry on I'm listening.... but I said perhaps you need to finish checking your messages first though I can wait.  She then put the phone away! 

 

Recently my partner and I were in a pub and decided to see how long it was before people arriving to meet others etc got their phones out.....this was when I had just got my iPhone and was massively into it!

Anyway whether young or old nobody lasted more than ten minutes!! Most were under that ....nearer five mins!! None of these people were on their own.

Well enough probably too much  said from me ....I know old person....but just a little discipline in company and of course in theatres and the like.

 

 

 

 

[capybara]

From the various clips that are posted online from both here and abroad, some audience members are obviously more concerned to film a sequence than to watch it.

[JNC]

Something positive to mention - 

 

Last night at ROH it seems someone was having difficulty up in the amphi during Act 3. I saw St John's Ambulance arrive and sadly the person ended up being taken out, but the ushers and ambulance staff managed it so quietly and smoothly as to not disrupt the audience. 

 

Again, another credit to ROH staff. (And I hope the person is in question is ok.) 

 

Also much of the same of ushers clamping down on mobile phone use too. 

[RuthE]

1 hour ago, JNC said:

Again, another credit to ROH staff. (And I hope the person is in question is ok.) 

 

Also much of the same of ushers clamping down on mobile phone use too. 

 

I actually emailed Customer Services after Thursday's performance to commend the ushering, in particular the lady on rear stalls right who had her hands constantly full with phone users.

[Ian Macmillan]

The first three paragraphs of Graham Watts' review of a performance at The Place are very pertinent to this long-running thread:

 

https://dancetabs.com/2019/11/ace-dance-and-music-skin-reimagined-blind-trip-letlalo-london/

 

 

[Sim]

It’s so sad what is happening to this country. 😢

[bridiem]

4 minutes ago, Sim said:

It’s so sad what is happening to this country. 😢

 

It's not possible to ask someone to sit back in their seat (if they're leaning forward when a performance starts, as sometimes happens) without touching their shoulder (lightly). I've done this many times (and I then ask politely if they could sit back, and say thank you if/when they do). I'm probably lucky I haven't been knocked to the floor subsequently... Terrifying.

[Sim]

Or told to eff off, as happened to a friend of mine standing in the Stalls circle recently.  

[Kate_N]

Has anyone seen this Mumsnet thread? A friend sent it to me, as she's heard me rant about badly-behaved audience members. Warning: Mumsnet seems to have an ethos of pretty direct & <ahem> earthy language. But it's also very very funny - not least the person who starts the thread. I can't believe it's not a complete wind up. Because is anyone that combination of stupid, rude, and aggressive?

 

https://www.mumsnet.com/Talk/am_i_being_unreasonable/3748621-singing-along-at-a-musical-to-cause-such-upset

Edited November 22, 2019 by Kate_N

[capybara]

(This was in response to Sim’s post.)
 

There was a similar ‘spat’ behind me when I was in the ROH Stalls Circle recently. It was very tempting to get involved.

In contrast, I’ve been at Milton Keynes this week and there hasn’t been any sign of phones being on during Le Corsaire. Even in the interval, the one phone I saw in use was to read the ballet synopsis!!!!

 

Edited November 22, 2019 by capybara

[zxDaveM]

57 minutes ago, Kate_N said:

 I can't believe it's not a complete wind up. Because is anyone that combination of stupid, rude, and aggressive?

 

I'm afraid they are - the self entitled believe they can sing along/hum along because they recognise the tune as it "harmless". But not if they're drowning out the people you have paid handsomely to hear singing said familiar tunes, it is instead intensely annoying. In this mumsnet instance, it sounds like the lady in front was actually quite restrained in her annoyance, until the guilty party started causing a scene

[JNC]

6 hours ago, Ian Macmillan said:

The first three paragraphs of Graham Watts' review of a performance at The Place are very pertinent to this long-running thread:

 

https://dancetabs.com/2019/11/ace-dance-and-music-skin-reimagined-blind-trip-letlalo-london/

 

 

I think I saw Graham post on twitter about this. 

 

Utterly selfish behaviour. You either have a choice of sitting silently, but your appreciation of the performance and enjoyment of it either being somewhat dampened to nearly ruined (depending on how much the behaviour irritates you), or you have to say something and risk either causing further disturbance, or personal unpleasantness if they ignore you/get abusive. It could be an evening ruining experience so I increasingly see why more and more people don't intervene. 

 

I try to let the odd thing go (if it's the odd word here and there, as opposed to a full on conversation, or the odd little bit of humming), but if it continues I feel I must say something otherwise I just sit there growing increasingly irritated. The problem is, if the person is not immediately next to you, it is pretty much impossible to do so. And now also with the growing risk of having abuse thrown back at you...utterly disgusting. 

 

I wonder if theatres (and ROH in particular) have banned people for some behaviours. 

 

It truly is sad there seems to be a lack of basic education/understanding/self-awareness about what behaviour is/isn't acceptable in a theatre, and theatres/ushers increasingly letting things slide (or actively encouraging in the case of food/drink inside the auditorium!) for risk of losing custom. ROH is an exception to this, and why I love it so much. I remember growing up when my parents would take me to the theatre for a really special treat, and being told exactly how I must behave (nothing super strict, just to be quiet, sit properly etc) and being warned if I wasn't able to behave like a grown-up I would be taken home! I always find it lovely to see well behaved children who at theatres and the ROH, and wonder why if a 7 year old is capable of knowing what behaviour is acceptable, and following the 'rules', why those who are older do not...

[Geoff]

There is an article in today’s ES magazine (the free magazine given away with the Evening Standard in London) which might interest contributors to this thread. Written by journalist Simon Mills, it purports to detail 12 “rules” for being an “exemplary theatre-goer”.

 

Based on research - Joe Stilgoe is quoted a couple of times, for example - some of the rules are self-evident (“put your phone away”) but it was surprising to see how many of his rules, despite my years of professional experience in theatre, film and television, I didn’t agree with. 

 

The article will have been skewed by the sample Mills spoke to (a few performers and managements maybe?) and though seemingly all very sensible, I wanted to argue back a fair bit (as would, for example, most critics, another group with an interest in “exemplary theatre going”) So maybe worth picking up a copy today if you see it at the station or wherever, and checking it against what you think. 

[Ian Macmillan]

I think that this is the article Geoff mentions, above.

 

https://www.standard.co.uk/lifestyle/esmagazine/theatre-etiquette-politeness-guide-a4304236.html

[capybara]

It's a good read whether one agrees or not. Thanks to Geoff and Ian for drawing attention to it.

I do agree with the "don't discuss the show at the theatre" mantra. There are patrons of the ROH (small p but might be big P too) who proclaim their views very loudly (and sometimes argumentatively) and risk spoiling the enjoyment of those around them. I am occasionally guilty in this respect but I say anything which may be construed as negative very quietly. 

[Coated]

I recently gave up on being an impeccably behaved audience member and now use my pub closing time voice to tell persistent offenders to switch off their phone. Who would have thought that the 'finish your drinks, please' cadence (unspoken implication:  or the landlord will throw you through a closed window) acquired in a part time job 20 years ago works perfectly for a well aimed 'switch off your phone please'. 

 

Even achieved a 2 for 1 at Modanse yesterday - successfully asked the woman 3 rows down who was constantly filming to desist, and  the guy 2 rows down who had just switched his mobile on for a browse nearly dropped it in his haste to switch it off. 

 

Edited December 7, 2019 by Coated