off-stage right

What in the world are people thinking?  That seems to be the hot topic right now.  As in, have audiences gone mad?  Between cell phones ringing, texting, illegal taping, fights, sex in the bathrooms and urinating on stage, today’s audiences are giving new meaning to bad behavior. 

Of course there is a school of thought that says cell phones are here to stay get used to it and quit throwing temper tantrums, however I understand how frustrating it is for actors and hearing the ringing night after night I can see where some can lose their cool.  Needless to say it is also disruptive for others for the audience.  Taping a show and posting it on You Tube is really not fair – to all involved.

Linda Winer’s recent article Rude behavior plagues New York theater takes a look at the how digital devices and just plain rudeness affect the theater-going experience.  Winer, of course, details the famous Patty Lupone cell phone incident. 

The word "etiquette" has such a quaint sound to it. To complain about idiots with their BlackBerries makes the complainer seem destined for little-old-ladyland, or an elitist, or someone who refuses to understand the importance of new audiences to the health of the arts.

 

But rudeness, in my worldview, is not a small crime. When a phone ring rips everyone’s attention from the illusion that has been carefully created in a theater, that’s a kind of violence. When rapt darkness is shattered by the light of one iPhone, I find myself dreaming of mob rule. It is impossible to imagine how jarring this oblivious multi-tasking must be to performers, who, we should remember, see and hear everything in the house. And, while we’re remembering, don’t forget that recording is – another quaint word in these confusing days for intellectual property rights – illegal….

The London Times wrote an article two weeks ago (Mind your step, it’s yob’s night at the theatre) detailing some of the same behavior which has gotten so bad that many theatres are hiring security guards:

A number of West End theatres are now employing bouncers to cope with intoxicated patrons who fight, fondle one another and even urinate in the auditorium.  The yobbish behaviour has led to theatregoers being ejected during performances and police being called to some of London’s most successful shows….

 

Critics believe the vulgar antics have been fuelled by falling ticket prices designed to attract younger audiences and the ease with which theatregoers can take alcohol into the auditorium….  A combination of factors have been cited for deteriorating standards of behaviour. Some theatre managers have been blamed for creating a climate that deliberately appeals to the Big Brother generation — including offering tickets for as little as £10.

Back at Newsday and Rude behavior plagues New York theater, Winer goes on to tell the tales of misbehaving Broadway audiences including the often told David Hyde Pierce story of the family passing a bucket of chicken around.  But then she too delves into stories from the West End:

But digital intrusions, food and snoring are so last season compared to the rotten behavior in, of all unlikely places, London‘s West End. According to last Sunday’s London Times, drinking in the auditoriums and young audiences attracted by discount tickets have had some really appalling fallout.

 

Things are so bad that producers of such pop musicals as "Dirty Dancing," "Grease" and "Thriller" (based on Michael Jackson‘s music) have hired their own private security experts – in other words, bouncers. People are being called to break up fights and theatergoers are being thrown out of performances.

 

Two months ago, a drunk assaulted an usher at "Mamma Mia!" and patrons in the good seats have been seen, as a producer told the paper, "indulging in intimate moments." Broadway has just one show, "Rock of Ages," where drinks are sold in the aisles and consumed at the seats. Given London’s experience, this nostalgic ’80s-hair band musical will probably turn out to be a special case.

 

The show’s publicist says the alcohol hasn’t caused anything too crazy. At one Saturday night preview, the entire mezzanine started the wave and she has never seen so much singing along, but "no one cares."

 

In London, outrageous behavior is not just happening at pop shows. At a recent performance of "A Little Night Music" (Trevor Nunn‘s Broadway-bound revival of the exquisite Stephen Sondheim musical), a drunken member of the audience walked to the side of the stage and urinated during the song, "Every Day a Little Death."

Audiences urinating on stage during Sondheim?  What has the world come to?  Well there is some history here, as the London Times points out in Mind your step, it’s yob’s night at the theatre:

A history of lechery, jeers and riots

 

Bad behaviour among theatregoers is hardly new. Indeed, audiences have arguably become far more restrained.

 

In Shakespeare’s day it was common for prostitutes and pickpockets to mingle with open-air crowds known for “roistering lechery”. The Bard’s less likeable characters frequently had objects hurled at them and could also expect jeers.  Foreign visitors to London were often appalled by what they saw. Nor did things improve much.

 

In 1685 Robert Gould, a satirical poet, wrote about playhouses containing “the filth of Jakes and stench of ev’ry Stew”. He concluded: “All People now, the Place is grown so ill, Before they see a Play, shou’d make their Will.”

 

In 1805 a group of tailors led a riot at the Theatre Royal, Haymarket, central London, in protest at a play called The Tailors: A Tragedy for Warm Weather, which they claimed was an insult to their profession.

 

In 1809 the audience at a production of Macbeth at the newly opened Covent Garden theatre booed and hissed the cast because of a rise in ticket prices. The performance was interrupted by shouts of “old prices, old prices” and 500 Dragoon Guards were called out. The audience refused to leave until 2am. Prices were subsequently reduced.

Which raises the question…is bad behavior to be expected and we need to figure out how to adapt?  Or will peer pressure prevail and force folks to start behaving better? 

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