Theatre Etiquette. Annoying woman in front

Sachamac it would be a lot better if people ate sweets which didn’t have noisy cellophane wrappers. Crisps and popcorn are annoyingly noisy, and to be honest, I find the smell of all that popcorn nauseating. I always wait for a noisy bit in the film before I open a sweet and never do in the quiet bits.

I agree Peaseblossom something like a bag of Malteser’s or Revels or a small bar of chocolate can easily be eaten quietly. The problem is there are a lot of people who are totally inconsiderate and just don’t care what effect their constant rustling & chomping has on others.

My daughter works for an orchestra so I often attend classical concerts with her. I absolutely dread getting a tickle in my throat as if I coughed I'd be seriously in the dog house! We are often sitting with her colleagues as well so I get quite nervous. I always make sure I have water with me in a bottle I can drink from silently, and a pocket full of sweets I can suck if my throat gets tickly. I'm very short so I would never block someone's view, but sitting still is expected. I guess it's difficult if you have long legs but I wouldn't really know.

I gave up going to the cinema a long time ago as I have a tendency to fall asleep during a film unless it's very exciting. Snoring results in a sharp jab in the ribs. At home I may be shouted at but I can cope with that!

I went to the ballet in Belfast a few years ago and had to ask for a different seat during the interval as couldn't stand the strong smell of perfume from the well dressed coiffured woman beside me. No doubt it was expensive perfume but overpowering.

we went to see Matthew Bourne's Sleeping Beauty ballet. Behind us was a box containing very giggly women. Just before the interval l could smell curry. l turned around to see these women tucking into M&S curry smelling picnics bits and pieces!

I went to see The Lion King and the young woman next to me was , texting with her phone ALL night it really annoyed me, a steward spoke to her a couple of times. but she carried on.
Another time I was at a concert and the tall person in front of me held his phone up making a video a lot of the time, I might as well have stayed at home and watched it on my own TV screen rather than his phone screen

I have been the person who disturbed someone behind me in the theatre by moving in my seat.

I had honestly not realised I was doing it, and apologised. I was not offended at being asked politely to sit still, but mortified that I had been guilty of distracting another member of the audience.

I have on various occasions myself asked others to please not talk during the performance and my aunt once left at the first interval as she just could not stop coughing and was embarassed at disturbing others by doing so.

Food should not be allowed into a theater in my opinion. Unless you have a medical condition that requires it.

Every live performance I have been to, there is an intermission. Use the restroom, grab a drink and a snack and then go back to the show.

But I rather like to think of the theater as an occasion to look nice and experience culture. The people on stage have worked hard to entertain you and the other attendees have paid quite a bit to attend. Show some respect.

In my humble opinion only.

How annoying. I think I would have said something too, perhaps, "Are you ok? Do you have a headache? Because I've noticed you keep moving your head." Recently, at the theatre someone was filming the ballet on their mobile. Evidently, no one called her out until she was spotted by the usher shining the torch into her face. I would have had to say something had I been near enough. I did once "Shush" the people behind me at another venue, in London. So selfish and annoying. Some people don't realise there IS a correct way to behave in theatre or cinema which is different from the way you are on your sofa at home.

I was at the cinema when a gentleman seated two seats to my left began to feel unwell. He stood up, obviously intending to go to the cloakroom. But before he could move he vomited violently on the head and shoulders of the woman in the seat in front of him. The gentleman's wife managed to get him as far as the aisle, where he collapsed. An ambulance was called. Staff took care of the unfortunate woman and during the interval, cleaned the seat where she had been sitting. I have often wondered about the outcome for the poor man who was taken ill.

Now that, Aldom, would ruin my night at the theater. Being thrown up on I mean, not him being sick and needing an ambulance.

Same happened to me. Tall man, kept dodging his head about so I had to dodge too. Like all of us we had paid dearly to go to the theatre and wanted to see the play. We did manage to move in the interval and really caught up with the play thereafter. I then apologised to the woman behind me originally as my dodging about must have annoyed her.

i don't see how anyone can object to standing to applaud.
how is that egotistical ?!
just stand up yourself if you want to see.

I remember going to see Jesus Christ Superstar with my year 7 sons school as a volunteer. I was sitting behind a man who wriggled the whole time, leaning on one elbow then the other. A small child was in front of him so his view wasn’t compromised. It drive me mad and spoilt the whole thing for me. Guess what, he was their drama teacher.

Some years ago, DH and I went to London to watch a performance of Les Miserables. Two seats to my left, was a young man who we dubbed The Serial Whooper because every - and I mean EVERY - time a male cast member came to the end of his song this young man would bob up and down in his seat, raise his hands and clap above his head whilst yelling ‘Whoop! whoop!’ At the top of his voice. It got to the point where the actor playing Jean Valjean was beginning to cringe in anticipation of the whooping as he neared the end of his numbers. It spoilt the whole experience somewhat, so, a year or so later, my DH took me to another theatre performance of Les Mis and I found myself fully expecting the Serial Whooper to start up after the first number. Sigh of relief to find he wasn’t there!

This really, really upset me because I am " that tall woman " . Not the actual one OP encountered, you understand, but the poor person who , at 6 foot( which I obviously cannot help ) has been tapped on shoulders , told to sit down & embarrassed beyond reason by short people who feel entitled to abuse us. It started when I was 18 and went to see " Joseph " . I am embarrassed now at being told to" sit down because I can't see."
I am now 66 and still ashamed of my height.
I now try to get end seats, or move out of the way in cinemas, theatres and church.
I think you were very rude.
The lady couldn't help her height and did you consider she might have a neurological complaint if she was nodding?
I am guessing you wouldn't tap a man or an obese person in such a manner, would you ?
No wonder you got glared at !

Mirren
I am a very short person, but I feel your pain
As I said earlier, to some extent you are taking a chance when you book theatre/cinema tickets you have no idea who will be sitting next to you, behind you or in-front of you.
Some kinds of behaviour are obviously rude and anti social, but being tall isn’t one of them.

I think people should speak up. I remember how many times I've been to the cinema when a child has kicked my seat in front of them. Pulling hair is a not acceptable. They are not pulling their mates hair, that means they know it is wrong. I have gone with special needs children and school trips and both those are a definite telling off, however much fun THEY are having. It is not right to spoil other people's enjoyment. I think it is OK to tell the person to stop moving about in front of you. That is not normal behaviour.

Last time we went to the cinema( booked seats) we had some very noisy eaters and rustlers behind us so we thought, sod this for a bar of soap, got up and moved to some better seats. No one told us off for sitting in the wrong seats and the place was half empty anyway.

People eat frankfurters in our cinema and smell lingers for ages. Not a smell I enjoy

Just remembering when I took my youngest daughter to see Cinderella at the theatre when she was about 4 years old. She was fine through the first act but after the interval she started a coughing fit then suddenly vomited all in her pretty party dress. I didn't know what to do. We were in the middle of the row and if I had bundled her out there would have been bits of sick over everyone in the row we passed. She was quite happy so we stayed.
At the end the lady behind me said I had ruined the show for her due to the smell of vomit.
35 years on and I still cringe at the memory !