Audience Behaviour

[GTL]

It's usually better to leave while the audience still wants more!

[osmum]

First ballet I saw was spoilt by the women behind who thought it was ok to munch on very smelly noodles. We spent a lot of money to take the family including ballet mad 8 year old to see Australia ballet whilst living in Auckland. Went to the matinee because we thought would be better for young children not out late and all that. Complained to usher at interval who confiscated food, but then same ladies talked through rest of performance and wriggled and jiggled and drove us mad!!!!

 

Next time matinee again was the chorus of coughing... Each time only a single cough but coming from all corners of the theatre reaching a crescendo in the really quiet and emotional parts of swan lake, seemed like it was happening on purpose.

 

Never again have I wasted money going to a matinee though sometimes evening theatre goers are only marginally better.

[Jan McNulty]

It's usually better to leave while the audience still wants more!

 

A sound principle GTL but sometimes the curtain goes down way too early!

[alison]

It's usually better to leave while the audience still wants more!

Yes, otherwise you have the embarrassing situation of having to sneak offstage in total silence. It's difficult to judge when you're new to such situations, of course, but I think I've noticed this particularly with Russian companies.

 

Petunia, I'm sorry you had a rather poor experience. I had a suspicion that audience behaviour was probably deteriorating faster over here than elsewhere, and your response seems to confirm that.

[chrischris]

Conversely, I sometimes feel that curtain calls go on too long at the ROH and that some dancers expect too much applause at their end of their variations and pdds etc.

 

I'd agree with that. It gets a bit ridiculous sometimes to be honest. I always find it funny as well how sometimes you can tell certain dancers revel in it and some seem desperate to get off stage.

Edited April 4, 2014 by chrischris

[LinMM]

Yesterday I went to a matinee of The Little Mermaid at the Ashcroft Theatre in Croydon.

 

Okay it was a matinee you expect there to be children and I don't think I'm an old grump just yet but perhaps I'm getting that way.

 

Most of the children considering there were so many yesterday were extremely well behaved. Not a peep. But then they tended to be over the age of three at least.

 

However the final scenes of this ballet were partly spoilt for me by the disruptive behaviour going on behind me.....at least......better than in front of you no doubt. The problem as far as I could see was that a few children were just TOO young. They started to get restless towards the end of Act one and I thought after they had had a good run around and shout up in the interval(quite normal behaviour for 2-3 year olds) they might settle in the second Act but after about 20-25 mins they'd had enough again.

I think as a parent if you know you are not going to be able to contain your child in their seat for very long then they are too young to go to the theatre unless the event is aimed specifically at a very young audience perhaps.

 

My own view would be no under 4's at the ballet!!!

But also if parents themselves want to allow children to take bags of crisps and sweets back into the auditorium they are just asking for trouble.

I know this has been said before but the theatre is NOT the cinema. It's bad enough all the munching in the cinema......and I know not only children do this. Also the theatre is not the sitting room at home where it's okay to not moderate your voice a bit.......though of course I wouldn't expect 2 year olds to be able to do this anyway.

If parents will insist on taking their too young children to a production then it would at least be sensible to try and arrange for two adults to be there so runaways are more easily returned!!

 

As it happened I was not right near this disturbance but if I had been sitting closer to it all I would have been very annoyed indeed as then it would have been virtually impossible to try and ignore as I did try to do yesterday.

[hfbrew]

Such a shame for those sitting near, I wear hearing aids and rustling crisps and sweet wrappers magnify in noise unbearably when close so I am even more irritated by those who seemingly cant wait til the interval to eat!

 

And the end of this Ballet is very moving and I can well imagine the atmosphere being spoilt by those too young to appreciate it. After all it certainly wasnt a Disney version was it?!

[2dancersmum]

I did my best to ignore the constant rustling but I think my group of three and a couple next to us were the only people not eating and drinking throughout the second act in the circle.  The theatre was very small and only 3 rows were occupied in the circle and you could hear every whispered comment by child and parent.  My DDs were engrossed and so was a boy of about eight or nine who took himself up to the back of the circle and sat on his own.

[Coated]

My gripe this week are 'early leavers'. Yes, I know, some people have trains to catch. I always feel sorry for the genuine last train people who have to leave during the last scene change and miss the end of the performance.

 

Some of the more considerate early leavers give their neighbours a heads up that they'll have to clear out ASAP and are both pleasant and organised about it.

 

And then there are the entitled madams and gents of the upper slips, who take in a bit of the clapping and then storm out, showing a lot of attitude, getting cross at people who don't move out of their way fast enough in their opinion and stomp on your foot whilst hitting you in the face with their bag. All of that without a single word, let alone a please or thank you. I'm considering declaring war on them. One more bag in my face and it's on.

[alison]

You've reminded me that I was going to report on my recent experiences: I recently went to a series of 3 classical concerts on consecutive nights.  The first night, there was a man sitting behind me wearing rubber-soled shoes.  Obviously that in itself isn't a problem, but what was was the fact that he kept fidgeting with his feet, and it was squeak, squeak almost directly in my ear (it was, of course, only in the second, and much longer, half of the concert, so no chance to catch him at the interval).  I kept turning round and glaring at him when this happened, but he seemed to be totally oblivious.

 

The next night, he wasn't there (or if he was, he was wearing different shoes, or sitting rather further away from me), and I thought Thank goodness, perhaps he was only coming to the first night.  You've guessed it: he turns up again on the third night, in the same pair of shoes, and kept shifting his feet what felt like every 30 seconds to 1 minute or so, and the squeaking was so loud it was often drowning out the soloist on the platform below me.  I got so irritated by it that I actually went to the box office during the interval and asked if there was somewhere I could move to: fortunately there was, and I enjoyed the rest of the concert squeak-free!

[alison]

And then there are the entitled madams and gents of the upper slips, who take in a bit of the clapping and then storm out, showing a lot of attitude, getting cross at people who don't move out of their way fast enough in their opinion and stomp on your foot whilst hitting you in the face with their bag. All of that without a single word, let alone a please or thank you. I'm considering declaring war on them. One more bag in my face and it's on.

 

Coated, you have me wondering whether they all live at a particular station that used to be on my route home.  Invariably, if I was sitting in the aisle seat on the train and there was someone (and several different someones, not just the same one person every time) in the window seat next to me, they would get up and try and shove past me without an excuse me, please, or thank you.  I used to wonder if someone had gone round and forcibly removed their tongues, but eventually had to come to the reluctant conclusion that no, they were just plain rude.  I would happily have accepted an "excuse me, please, or thank you" in any language under the sun, even one I didn't understand, as long as it was said, but no.

[Fonty]

Oh Alison, how annoying for you.  Much worse than tinkly bracelets.

 

I usually end up sitting in front or beside someone who sings or hums along to the music.  Usually in a tuneless voice a beat behind the music. 

[Willie]

I don't think I'm an old grump just yet but perhaps I'm getting that way.

 

I think I'm an old grump.

 

I don’t like when people ask me to switch seats.

 

It goes something like this:  “May I switch seats with you?  You see, my husband’s seat is next to you and my seat is all the way over there.”

 

I think to myself, “I purchased this center stage, aisle seat ticket months ago and I traveled all this way just to sit here, and you want me to switch seats with you because you bought two tickets for seats that are not together?”

 

It’s a dilemma.

 

Do I switch seats to be polite?  I do switch, but then I am upset with myself because the seat I had was perfect and the new seat is not.

 

Do I decline and keep my perfect seat?  I imagine that if I say “no” everyone within earshot would think that I am an old grump (I thought that of a person who said “no”).

 

I wish people would not ask me to switch seats.  

Edited April 20, 2014 by Willie

[aileen]

Willie, you should not feel guilty or embarrassed about saying "no" to an adult asking you to switch seats. It's not necessary for adults to sit together when they are watching a performance (in silence). They can meet up and chat during the interval(s). Personally, I might make an exception where a child or teenager were involved. I think that it's cheeky to ask someone to change seats and a bit babyish for a grown adult to feel uncomfortable about sitting on his/her own in a theatre. If s/he feels that way then s/he should not have booked tickets which were not together in the first place.

[Melody]

You can always tell them that you need an aisle seat for medical reasons and that's why you always book early to get the exact seat you've ended up with. We had a friend we went to the ballet with, who needed an aisle or front-row seat because of a stiff leg; he found it really painful to sit in a regular seat, so I always made sure to book our seats as soon as they were available so we could get one seat where he could keep his leg straight. As aileen said, it's not going to kill two adults to sit apart for a couple of hours when they can meet up in the intervals. They could always have booked early if sitting together was that important.

Edited April 20, 2014 by Melody

[billboyd]

How about suggesting that ' the person over there next to you might like to swap with your husband'?

[Coated]

I think I'm an old grump.

 

It’s a dilemma.

 

Do I switch seats to be polite?

Nope, never, and absolutely not. It's pretty rude of the people asking to swap your aisle seat with something indifferent elsewhere. Would they swap with you if you asked? Doubt it.

 

It's not exactly the end of he world not sitting next to your friend/partner for a couple of hours. They are allowed to meet up in the intermission.

 

 

The first night, there was a man sitting behind me wearing rubber-soled shoes.  Obviously that in itself isn't a problem, but what was was the fact that he kept fidgeting with his feet, and it was squeak, squeak almost directly in my ear (it was, of course, only in the second, and much longer, half of the concert, so no chance to catch him at the interval).  I kept turning round and glaring at him when this happened, but he seemed to be totally oblivious.

 

I have tapped the offending shoe in a similar situation and there was less squeaking afterwards. Squeaking is bad enough, but when it drowns out the performance it's just ridiculous.

Edited April 20, 2014 by Coated

[Jan McNulty]

My friends and I often book independently and then find we are at the same performance.  On a number of occasions people have offered to swap seats but I would never dream of asking.

 

I have offered to swap seats before now but am reluctant if I am asked.  I tend to book performances as soon as I possibly can so that I can get the seat I want so I don't necessarily want to swap.

 

Willie, I do not think you are an old grump at all.

[billboyd]

My post #676 was rather tongue in cheek.

[Jan McNulty]

It may have been tongue in cheek Bill but I think it's a brilliant idea if someone is being asked to move to what they consider an inferior seat!

[Fonty]

What a cheek!

 

The only place I might consider doing that is on a Ryanair flight, and only then if the person has a small child they want to sit next to and there really is nowhere else to sit.

[MargaretN7]

The only time I've asked to switch seats was when I later bought an extra ticket for my granddaughter, who I hadn't known would be visiting when I did the original booking. I initially sent my granddaughter to the better seat, and then when the person came to sit by me asked her if she'd like to exchange with my granddaughter. So the person I asked to switch ended up, very happily, in a better (and more expensive) seat, and my granddaughter was happier sitting with me.

[aileen]

Well, it's fair enough offering a more expensive seat as part of the swap but even if the seat is more expensive it may not be preferable or desirable if it is, for example, not an aisle seat and the person particularly wants an aisle seat or is on the RHS of the ROH and the person has mobility problems or is a slow walker.

[Aruna S]

I have asked someone to switch seats with me once, I was on the third seat of a row next to a couple, and at the last interval I asked if I could switch seats with the one on the aisle because I had to leave to catch a train (hangs head in shame, yes, I'm one of those people). It wasn't a big deal because all the seats had the same view, and it meant that I wouldn't be obstructing their view as I left, and obviously I asked very politely but for some reason the wife was unhappy about it. Fortunately the husband had no problems. 

 

Normally I wouldn't give up a carefully chosen seat for one far away, but it it were the kind of situation MargaretN7 mentions, I might.

[Coated]

Hmm, whole new development on aisle seats - people just sitting down on the steps right next to you.

 

Did not expect that at ROH, but person was eventually removed by Usher after the first act.

 

I feel like donating money for a permanent Upper Slips patrol. With cattle prods.

[taxi4ballet]

Should have known better - a matinee performance in the school holidays... the little children were fine, it was their mothers who whispered incessantly to one another all through the performance.

[Coated]

Ok, not having luck with my seats recently. For once there isn't a rustler or cougher nearby (hooray!) but I end up sitting next to a guy who is very angry about not being able to lean into my seat to escape his restricted view. Yes, I'm big. I do take up my seat. No, you can't lean into my seat to get a better view, but if you are 'normal sized' yourself you can easily rest your elbows on the armrest (yes, sorry, only your elbows)

 

When he sat down he literally rammed his arm in my side. I know the signal. Lots of guys do that on the tube, expecting the person next to them to fold themselves up so they can take over armrest etc. He continues to wiggle around like mad, testing whether he can see when he leans forward (nope, could have told you that having sat in his restricted view seat plenty of times myself) and then informs me that he will have to lean over into my seat to see properly. Nice. He then proceeds to regularly push his elbow hard over the armrest during the performance, presumably to get me to move out of 'his' way? In the intermission, he complains to the usher (who kindly moved him) that he can't sit comfortable because I'm too large.

 

Now, in the amphi, that would be fair enough - which is why I don't sit in amphi. However, having sat in his seat, I happen to know why he's uncomfortable - it's the pillar which gets in the way of legs and forces you to tilt your head. Or, you know, you could just demand to lean over into someone elses seat and expect them to make space for you. Funnily enough, I have sat in his restricted view seat comfortably enough (Sure, I had a bit of a crick in my neck afterwards) without leaning anywhere near the person next to me whilst achieving a full view of the stage. Even when sitting next to equally hefty people. I guess that makes him larger than me....or unable to understand the concept of restricted view seats.

 

Anyway, long moan, but it kinda spoilt my last Winter's Tale a bit.

[LinMM]

To be honest I'd rather not go than sit in any seat with a restricted view......I just hate it so don't bother any more.

 

I'm seeing this ballet tomorrow and of course not living in London have only just found out about the tube strike tomorrow and Wednesday ......two days I just happen to have to be inLondon! What a drag. It's all doable by bus of course but wondered how crowded it will get especially going back to where I stay afterwards.

I hate having to worry about the journey home afterwards though so hope the last Act is good enough to take my mind off it!!

[Coated]

Well, I learned my lesson to not book the seat next to a restricted view one either.

 

Busses were fine after the performance last night, very little traffic, but I'd leave plenty of time getting there - it's fairly bonkers during rushhour, my normally 30 minute bus took an hour.

[LinMM]

Thanks coated will do!!

[balletkai]

I recently attended a studio's performance of Carmen, and I was surprised about how rude some of the members of the audience were.
I understand that this wasnt a professional company put on ballet, but their manners weren't acceptable for a movie theatre, much less a ballet.
Next to me was a man ON HIS CELL PHONE practically the entire time.
A group of young women behind me giggled, made sarcastic comments, and clapped at inappropriate times through out the performance.
And one eager mother stood up and waved to her young daughter on the stage, and the daughter stopped dancing and waved back.
Really?! The same mother clapped along to the upbeat music, and it wasnt even on the beat.
I just wanted to slap all of them. I am years younger than every one of the offenders, but I have the decency and common sense to know what is ballet appropriate and what is just plain impolite.
Whoo. Just had to get that out.

[Odyssey]

Just widening this thread a little to enquire if people have found the behaviour at the live screenings is similar to that expected at a live performance. From my experience of three screenings, I have found audience behaviour to be excellent, with no evidence of widespread eating & drinking which you would suspect might be the case at a cinema. There's certainly less chance of being annoyed by spreading legs and elbows as there is usually far more room! My one (slightly) annoying incident at the recent screening of The Winter's Tale was from one half of a couple behind me who kept up a running commentary of remarks to his other half such as "ooh that was nice" & " how about that". But as these were all complimentary remarks, and ones that I found I shared, I really couldn't get too annoyed by this distraction.

[alison]

Yes, as I think I indicated above, hence my comments with regard to the popcorn issue.  But then, from conversations I overheard on Monday night, it was clear that I wasn't the only ROH regular (or reasonably regular) among the audience.