[News] Theatre etiquette

[WATFORD zero]

Surprised you chose to sit in the North Stand then

Luckily I'm a sufficient number of rows behind you

*edit* and you

 

[Happy Exile]

For me it's like amplified buskers and people who listen to music on public transport without headphones or take loud music to the beach. The self-important assumption that everyone should hear you whether they want to or not, and not even giving them the option to get away from the sound. At the theatre leave it to the performers unless invited. Many years ago I had a night at the theatre made impossible to enioy because of the proximity of a man with such exceptionally strong and offensive BO so powerful you could taste it. One person dragging down a night for so many people - etiquette goes beyond noise and into just general social awareness.

 

[Harry Wilson's tackle]

Theatre is where you see plays.

Musicals are for music halls.

For crying out loud.

 

[schmunk]

Many years ago I had a night at the theatre made impossible to enioy because of the proximity of a man with such exceptionally strong and offensive BO so powerful you could taste it. One person dragging down a night for so many people - etiquette goes beyond noise and into just general social awareness.

Well, you knew he was like that when you married him...

 

[Skuller]

I started singing at an Anton Chekhov play, totally misread that situation

“Seagulls, Seagulls, Seagulls……”

 

[Thunder Bolt]

Theatre is where you see plays.

Musicals are for music halls.

For crying out loud.

My generation (pun intentional) went to theatres to see pop stars. See being the operative word, as you couldn’t hear a thing for screaming!

 

[Lyndhurst 14]

Theatre is where you see plays.

Musicals are for music halls.

For crying out loud.

Exactly, seems as if most of the West End and other provincial theatres are only showing musicals and tribute bands these days. I suppose it's easy money in difficult times but it means the more serious stuff takes a back seat. People should be able to enjoy both

 

[Lenny Rider]

Bernard Manning used to joke about Pavarotti not liking it when you joined in


As has been alluded to previously the theatre world in the last 30 years with the rise of ‘the juke box musical’ has opened up to sections of society who wouldn’t have gone anywhere near there in the 70s and 80s.


Variation on a theme but almost related, when I left school in 1980 the overwhelming majority of kids ‘knew the rules’ and played by them.

This summer a lot of kids walking out of school gates don’t know the rules let alone play by them, it’s the same with the theatre, they are selling tickets, sometimes at well over a £100 a pop, to punters who don’t know how to behave in a theatre, but the very fact they’ve paid top dollar they think anything goes.

 

[WATFORD zero]

Bernard Manning used to joke about Pavarotti not liking it when you joined in


As has been alluded to previously the theatre world in the last 30 years with the rise of ‘the juke box musical’ has opened up to sections of society who wouldn’t have gone anywhere near there in the 70s and 80s.


Variation on a theme but almost related, when I left school in 1980 the overwhelming majority of kids ‘knew the rules’ and played by them.

This summer a lot of kids walking out of school gates don’t know the rules let alone play by them, it’s the same with the theatre, they are selling tickets, sometimes at well over a £100 a pop, to punters who don’t know how to behave in a theatre, but the very fact they’ve paid top dollar they think anything goes.

Price of everything and value of nothing

 

[Harry Wilson's tackle]

My generation (pun intentional) went to theatres to see pop stars. See being the operative word, as you couldn’t hear a thing for screaming!

My first thought when I opened the thread was that loads of drunken oafs were joining in with "To be. or not to be".

Then I thought I'd run with it.

Apologies, TB. I was just arsing about again.

 

[Lenny Rider]

Price of everything and value of nothing

You’ve obviously been to Dubai and The Caribbean recently ?


Obviously the circle of life (from the Lion King no less) means that there’s comes a point when the finer things in life are due, to unlimited credit and obviously in some cases hard work, are available to the masses.


We noticed it for the first time in Florida in 2003, you couldn’t move for Football Shirts, tattoos and pissed Scottish/Northern Dads at the pool in the afternoons

 

[Grizz]

We went to see Tina the Musical in London before the pandemic and they even stated at the beginning, please don't sing a long, you'll have an opportunity to do so at the end when they'll do the big hits. The bloke next to me started to sing right from the first song. I gave him the benefit of the doubt, but after the third song I politely said to him, did you not hear the announcement at the beginning? We're all Tina fans, but I've paid to hear the professionals sing, so can you just wait til the end like they asked you to. He did, though he wasn't happy. That's the only bad experience I've had, but we tend to not go to the juke box musicals now.

The theatres themselves do have to take a little bit of responsibility though. They bombard the audience with booze offers from the off and whilst I understand it's easy money for them, you have to have a balance. You see people staggering back to their seats with two or three glasses of wine in their hands and think, come on, have some common sense.

 

[Varndean VI Form College]

Why would you even make a theatre production of such a desperate film? Oh, I remember now: £££££££.

No accounting for taste.

 

[PILTDOWN MAN]

Theatre is where you see plays.

Musicals are for music halls.

For crying out loud.

Sob quietly please.

 

[BBassic]

I think there's a wider issue with audiences generally as well. If I may get on my soapbox for a moment.

Someone recently leaked photos of an actors naked body from a stage adaptation of 'A Little Life' which is one of the most harrowing and depressing books I've ever read. This isn't some jukebox musical; it's a serious bit of theatre with some distressing scenes and themes. And you've got someone in that audience being a tool as well.

Gigs are another one. You cannot see gigs anymore with your own eyes. No, instead you watch the show through the phone screen of some bastard in front of you filming the whole thing. For what? To watch a juddery facsimile of a show they were in attendance of with immeasurably worse sound quality.

Angries up the blood it does.

 

[JOLovegrove]

Exactly, seems as if most of the West End and other provincial theatres are only showing musicals and tribute bands these days. I suppose it's easy money in difficult times but it means the more serious stuff takes a back seat. People should be able to enjoy both

Trust me, if you look, there are a variety of plays and smaller productions everywhere, especially in Brighton and more so in London. Saying this, the big name musicals are always going to pull in the punters, and is what is needed. Running theatres are incredibly expensive, people forget the amount of people it takes to run a show.

 

[jcdenton08]

Theatre is where you see plays.

Musicals are for music halls.

For crying out loud.

Commercial theatre is almost entirely subsidised by musicals. Without musicals, the plays wouldn’t be able to run outside of arts funded venues…

 

[jcdenton08]

Exactly, seems as if most of the West End and other provincial theatres are only showing musicals and tribute bands these days. I suppose it's easy money in difficult times but it means the more serious stuff takes a back seat. People should be able to enjoy both

I mean, they are… in the last few weeks alone, Brighton and Eastbourne have had professional productions of a Roy Grace play, Lemons Lemons Lemons direct from the West End, Quality Street… there are dozens of straight plays at any given time in the West End and beyond at any given time. Every am-dram company in the country usually does one panto and one musical a year (which fund the entire operation) then a play every month or two.

I think there are three main reasons for audience behaviour getting out of control.

1. Alcohol. Nearly every audience behaviour issue is caused from being drunk. Theatres encourage drinking, as the vast majority of theatrical productions fail to break even and the income is crucial in turning a profit. In fact, around 85% of theatre productions lose their investment and close on a loss. Some long running shows, charging over £100 per ticket, actually lose money per performance. Ticket prices alone do not cover an orchestra/band, cast (including any stars), crew, FOH, rent, advertising, bills… new productions have to pay for sets, designers, directors, rehearsal space. Theatre is done largely with love and/or deep wallets of very wealthy/stupid investors.

2. The advertising message. Posters for jukebox shows claiming “dancing in the aisles”, “party night” etc is mixed messaging. Is this a hen night activity, with singing along, dancing, or is it sitting in the dark for two or more hours listening and watching? Most shows are the latter, but plastered (pun intended) on posters as the former.

3. General loss of manners/etiquette in society. More debatable, but anecdotally behaviour is getting worse and worse generally. A lot more entitlement from the public to do as they wish in a theatre, which they feel is justified due to high ticket prices.

 

[Stato]

This thread has reminded me of going to the Theatre Royal a couple of decades ago. My in-laws took us to see The Roy Orbison Story. An evening of great songs being performed less well than Roy would have done them, but the audience was full of people who shared a love and, as it was pointed out to me recently, this is what seeing tribute acts is really all about.

On this night though, there was a fairly strange interjection from one audience member. When the show reached 'In Dreams', the hauntingly beautiful song used in a disturbing scene by David Lynch in 'Blue Velvet', some bloke in the balcony decided to treat everyone to his finest Dennis Hopper impression and started, grunting, squealing and shouting 'PLAY THE CANDY COLOURED CLOWN' repeatedly and at the top of his voice throughout the song.

As Rick James said 'Cocaine is a helluvah drug.'

 

[WATFORD zero]

This thread has reminded me of going to the Theatre Royal a couple of decades ago. My in-laws took us to see The Roy Orbison Story. An evening of great songs being performed less well than Roy would have done them, but the audience was full of people who shared a love and, as it was pointed out to me recently, this is what seeing tribute act is really all about.

On this night though, there was a fairly strange interjection from one audience member. When the show reached 'In Dreams', the hauntingly beautiful song used in a disturbing scene by David Lynch in 'Blue Velvet', some bloke in the balcony decided to treat everyone to his finest Dennis Hopper impression and started, grunting, squealing and shouting 'PLAY THE CANDY COLOURED CLOWN' repeatedly and at the top of his voice throughout the song.

As Rick James said 'Cocaine is a helluvah drug.'

I remember the days when Idiots actually recognised they were idiots and tried not to draw attention to it. I blame Health and Safety for protecting extremely stupid people letting them reach adulthood and, even worse, breed