Inconsiderate behaviour in theatres

I'm a volunteer usher at our local theatre and it is a very difficult job. Some shows the tour manager will allow no photos, some allow videoing and others anything goes. It's hard to police people taking photos if it's not allowed since lots of others will be doing it too! Regarding latecomers, again some shows specify none, others 10 minutes in or after the first song etc. it differs. But we ushers have to try to sort it as best we can with the minimum disruption. You can't temporarily sit people in vacant seats because the ticketholder will then arrive causing more distruption. I go round with a big sign when mobiles can't be used and most people adhere to it. I usually end up with a whole lot of late comers on my door waiting to be seated and it really isn't easy to deal with. I think all phones should be banned in theatres and no latecomers allowed in until the interval but I don't make the rules.

Exactly Skate. I suppose the people who behave so badly at the theatre just think everyone else is grumpy and anti social, and will continue ue with their rude and annoying behaviour.

How is it 'grumpy and antisocial' to deplore the selfish and inconsiderate behaviour of others? Surely those noisily arriving late, talking, chomping, slurping etc are the antisocial ones?

Thinking something similar, MissA. However..........

We visited the theatre yesterday - one lady sallies in 5 minutes late, walks right to the front of the theatre and noisily takes her seat. Halfway through the first act a lady again from the front of the theatre, leaves her seat (presumably to visit the ladies) and then does exactly the same thing 20minutes into the second act - in spite of there having been a 20 minute interval. It must be off putting for the actors on stage.

Blimey.

Kim19

Gosh, just reading this and realising what an anti social and grumpy lot many of us have become. Is it post covid, the ageing process or what?

Wow. What it is is unease with the declining standards of basic manners and falling levels of consideration in OTHERS. We are not the problem. Thanks for the attempt at gaslighting though.

Gosh, just reading this and realising what an anti social and grumpy lot many of us have become. Is it post covid, the ageing process or what?

I absolutely loath going to the pictures now to see a film, in fact I don't go anymore and happy to wait to see it on TV eventually, and watch in the comfort of my own home, not having to listen to other people talking through it, munching, slurping and kicking my seat!!!
Why the British public can't sit for 1-2 hours without eating I'll never know!!!!

People don’t know how to behave. Manners, just even the basics are thought unnecessary. It’s really noticeable over the past ten years or so.

I don’t go to the cinema or theatre now. It’s too expensive and last time the people behind us never let up chit chatting!

This is why i stopped going to the pictures. It costs a fortune to go and then you get disturbed by inconsiderate people

I hate having my eardrums perforated by people using their fingers to whistle. If someone next to me did it I would jog his elbow and hope it choked him. How do you get through to anybody that whistling actually hurts my ears.

And regard to food in cinemas, this is purely for profit. There is little money to be made in the showing of a film, so food is a way of getting extra cash in

There used to be a dress code too. You would often see men in jackets and ties and women in evening dresses. Now it is jeans and tshirts

Watching the snooker just now - no one in the audience talking/eating/using phones at all, and only movement allowed between frames.
If it's possible to behave so well for sport then surely the same should be possible in theatres?

People don’t know how to behave. Manners, just even the basics are thought unnecessary. It’s really noticeable over the past ten years or so.

I don’t go to the cinema or theatre now. It’s too expensive and last time the people behind us never let up chit chatting!

Simply cannot understand why people have to keep stuffing their faces. As for those revolting buckets of popcorn - the smell, the rustling, the moronic chomping - disgusting. Totally ruin the enjoyment of those forced to sit next to anybody clutching one. There is no pleasure in going to the cinema any more, cannot bear sitting next to people who can't last a couple of hours without noisily eating something smelly. Food in cinemas and theatre auditoriums should be banned, apart from an ice cream in the interval.

Decide whether you are talking about older children or younger!

I was once guilty of arriving late for the ballet. Rudolf Nureyev dancing Prospero on stilts. We’d got stuck in the traffic and just couldn’t get there in time. We had to hang around in the foyer until the interval and watch the ballet on a blurry black and white tv screen. As this performance was a series of cameos rather than a full ballet we never did see Nureyev on stilts. We did see him at other times but I always regret missing that performance. If theatres still did this it would shake up the tardy types I’m sure.

I don't understand why people have to eat and drink at all during a two hour film at the cinema.

I've given up on theatre and cinema - on the last visit I made to the cinema a friend in our party was growing more and more out of temper due to the three teenage boys behind talking, swapping ring tunes on their phones and generally behaving as if they were out in the street. Friend snapped; he leapt to his feet, thumped the back of his seat and roared 'I've come here to listen to the film - NOT you!'. I sat waiting for repercussions, but they did shut up, and crept out about half an hour later. I now buy DVDs when they come out - half the price of tickets, I can watch whenever I like, pause to make a drink, and pass the DVD on to the family. The inconsiderate talking, eating and late arrivals are more than I can bear in the theatre and cinema now.

... and a bucket of Coke.

I can't understand why people feel the need to eat a giant bucket of popcorn

mistymitts

I work in the theatre and cinema. We constantly remind people that filming and photography is not allowed. In the cinema a message reminds people to turn off their phones. If there are latecomers we try to let them in a suitable interval and put them in the nearest available seat so as not to disturb other patrons. They can find their correct seat in the interval. Noisy eating in cinemas and theatres is a distraction and just plain bad manners. This is why we try to sell ice creams if people need a treat, a silent non rustling snack. Cooked food is not allowed because of the smell. If someone needs the loo, then unfortunately there is nothing we can do except maybe tell them that they will have to wait to come back in at a suit time if it’s the theatre. People who know that they have bladder problems should consider booking end of a row seats so as not to be a pain to other audience members. Also, standing up in a musical and singing along is not allowed generally during the performance as those sitting behind you will not be able to see the stage, but at the end, during the encores and applause, that is acceptable. People should be taught theatre and cinema etiquette, as listening to someone noisily eat is just so unpleasant and disgusting. I have seen people come to the theatre and sit looking at their phones for the whole performance, I ask myself why have you come in the first place!

??????

We went to the Panto at our local theatre last December. Now, I accept that it's a family show, lots of children of all ages with parents and grandparents too. BUT! During the interval it was quite clear that many adults had disappeared to the bars and left the children unattended........total bedlam ensued, and it was so bad the management had to close the bars and cut the interval short!