Going to the theatre is one of my favourite pastimes. You look forward to it for weeks. Every year, just before Christmas, I go to the theatre with my mum and brother, it is one of my favourite days of the year. Last Christmas we went to see The Lion King at the Palace Theatre in Manchester. I didn’t expect the people in front of us to be eating tuna sandwiches. Upon seeing You Bury Me at the Lyceum in March, I didn’t expect the two ladies in the row behind to discuss getting their food shop delivered and using their phones, to the point of an usher and the person sitting next to them asking them to stop.
I think you might be getting my stance. I think there is a level of respect and expectation upon going to the theatre. No phone and silence. Honestly, I don’t think that it is too much to ask. When you go and see a show, you might have looked forward to it for months beforehand, not to mention the cost of the ticket itself. It is completely entitled and self-centred to talk or use your phone.
The Bodyguard, which was being performed at the Palace Theatre in Manchester, had politely asked the audience not to sing along. I don’t get upset about this. People pay good money to go and see the professionals who have trained for years. These are their careers as well as their art. Who are you to be so disrespectful and sing over them?
The decision was discussed on ITV This Morning. Alison Hammond said that she couldn’t believe it and would be devastated, “I’m not even going to go to that show now”. Vanessa Feltz said, “Isn’t the whole point of going to a musical that you know that you sing along to all the bits you know, and when you don’t know the words, you just make them up?” No, Vanessa, I absolutely refute that comment. I have never sung at the theatre because no one has paid to listen to hear me sing, and if they had, I would be up on the stage rather than in the audience.
The day after Hammond and Feltz disagreed with the decision in Manchester, what has been described as a mini-riot broke out at the Friday performance of The Bodyguard. In the first act, the performance had to be stopped in order for people who would not stop singing to be removed. After the disturbance continued into the second act, the theatre decided to end the performance with ten minutes of the performance left. The police were called, and several vehicles could be seen outside the theatre. Ayden Callaghan, who plays bodyguard Frank Farmer, said that the “Theatre pulled the show at the end tonight because of disgusting behaviour”.
I have had the unpleasant misfortune of listening to a video of the singing from the audience. I can only hear a drunken woman who believes that she can sing. But I can also hear the utter disrespect and entitlement. Another video allowed me to hear the cheers of the audience after another member of the audience was removed. Unsurprisingly, both Hammond and Feltz have faced backlash about their comments online. I believe that their comments made these disruptive individuals feel empowered to sing along. We will never know 100%, but we could guess that had they been there, they might have sung along too.
Ultimately, theatre etiquette needs to be re-evaluated. Singing along, eating smelly food and using your phone are not appropriate behaviours in a theatre. Tickets are expensive, and we pay to hear the professionals, not entitled audience members.
Image: “An evening at the ballet… Akram Khan’s Giselle, by the English National Ballet, at the Palace Theatre, Manchester” by akhenatenator is marked with CC0 1.0.
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Where has theatre etiquette gone?
Going to the theatre is one of my favourite pastimes. You look forward to it for weeks. Every year, just before Christmas, I go to the theatre with my mum and brother, it is one of my favourite days of the year. Last Christmas we went to see The Lion King at the Palace Theatre in Manchester. I didn’t expect the people in front of us to be eating tuna sandwiches. Upon seeing You Bury Me at the Lyceum in March, I didn’t expect the two ladies in the row behind to discuss getting their food shop delivered and using their phones, to the point of an usher and the person sitting next to them asking them to stop.
I think you might be getting my stance. I think there is a level of respect and expectation upon going to the theatre. No phone and silence. Honestly, I don’t think that it is too much to ask. When you go and see a show, you might have looked forward to it for months beforehand, not to mention the cost of the ticket itself. It is completely entitled and self-centred to talk or use your phone.
The Bodyguard, which was being performed at the Palace Theatre in Manchester, had politely asked the audience not to sing along. I don’t get upset about this. People pay good money to go and see the professionals who have trained for years. These are their careers as well as their art. Who are you to be so disrespectful and sing over them?
The decision was discussed on ITV This Morning. Alison Hammond said that she couldn’t believe it and would be devastated, “I’m not even going to go to that show now”. Vanessa Feltz said, “Isn’t the whole point of going to a musical that you know that you sing along to all the bits you know, and when you don’t know the words, you just make them up?” No, Vanessa, I absolutely refute that comment. I have never sung at the theatre because no one has paid to listen to hear me sing, and if they had, I would be up on the stage rather than in the audience.
The day after Hammond and Feltz disagreed with the decision in Manchester, what has been described as a mini-riot broke out at the Friday performance of The Bodyguard. In the first act, the performance had to be stopped in order for people who would not stop singing to be removed. After the disturbance continued into the second act, the theatre decided to end the performance with ten minutes of the performance left. The police were called, and several vehicles could be seen outside the theatre. Ayden Callaghan, who plays bodyguard Frank Farmer, said that the “Theatre pulled the show at the end tonight because of disgusting behaviour”.
I have had the unpleasant misfortune of listening to a video of the singing from the audience. I can only hear a drunken woman who believes that she can sing. But I can also hear the utter disrespect and entitlement. Another video allowed me to hear the cheers of the audience after another member of the audience was removed. Unsurprisingly, both Hammond and Feltz have faced backlash about their comments online. I believe that their comments made these disruptive individuals feel empowered to sing along. We will never know 100%, but we could guess that had they been there, they might have sung along too.
Ultimately, theatre etiquette needs to be re-evaluated. Singing along, eating smelly food and using your phone are not appropriate behaviours in a theatre. Tickets are expensive, and we pay to hear the professionals, not entitled audience members.
Image: “An evening at the ballet… Akram Khan’s Giselle, by the English National Ballet, at the Palace Theatre, Manchester” by akhenatenator is marked with CC0 1.0.
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