The Degradation of Audience Etiquette

We all have a pet peeve, no matter how often we tell ourselves we don’t. Mine, like many other theatre-goers, is the increasing number of rude and inappropriate audience members we are having to share auditoriums with. Watching Matilda on the West End a few weeks ago, I noticed at least three people whip their phones out of their pocket, scroll on Snapchat, send a quick message or, God forbid, sneak a quick snap of the stage. Not to mention a couple having the most in depth, obtuse conversation possible bang in the middle of my eye line. I know I’m not alone in these experiences. So why is it these insensitive audiences seem to be getting more and more common?

The first possibility is, and excuse me whilst I sound like your old uncle at Christmas, those damn phones. TikTok and YouTube have become a breeding ground for illegal filming of these shows, many reaching hundreds of thousands of views. Wicked seems to be a particular favourite of these bootleg creators, one playlist of which gaining 820k views. Now, the argument around bootlegs sparks discussion of lots of other things: copyright, extortionate ticket prices, lack of cast recordings etc. But from the perspective of a paying audience member, bootleggers are rude, invasive and selfish. They ruin the experience for others and completely tarnish the decades of hard work put into a show by hundreds of people. 

And, whilst perhaps less extreme, there are countless other  offences audience members try to get away with from meaningless chat, to belting the songs out loud, to physically harassing actors at stage door (which I’ll make a more in depth post about). 

Theatres need to crack down on this, sure, but the ushers and Front of House staff are over-worked enough as it is catering to the needs of an entire auditorium, often in the dark. So really, the only person who can stop yourself from being part of this epidemic of inconsideration is you. Simply enjoy the show how it’s meant to be viewed. Theatre can be an amazing community, but the experience of watching a show is, for me at least, wholly individual. It reveals pieces of yourself that you’d never have known about before. Joy, sorrow and total exhilaration in those 2-ish hours can only come from complete immersion in the art you have the privilege of witnessing right now. Allow yourself that privilege. Follow the rules.