Frequent theatre goers will confirm: there’s nothing more annoying than being distracted from the show by a fellow inconsiderate audience member. Benedict Nightingale, writer for the Times Online, takes on these coughers and candy-unwrappers in his new article, The 15 Golden Rules of Theatre Etiquette. His little list includes the expected – turning off cell phones and managing rowdy children – but also the suggestions to avoid hats and high hair styles, whispering to neighbors, and waking up sleeping critics (as his review will be kinder out of guilt).
So, here’s a question: up here in San Francisco (I work for Theatre Bay Area, the LA Stage of SF), I’ve been engaged in a pretty active conversation with some of our smaller companies about changing theatre etiquette — and, really, changes in expectations about theatre etiquette. Of course there’s a fine line to walk, but one thing that has come up which I think deserves some merit is that, by sticking with all of these rules over time, we’re actually hurting ourselves by not adjusting to changes in audience demographics, attitudes etc.
For example, this one:
“If the child you’re bringing is chatty, gag it. If it’s fidgety, handcuff and shackle it. And if you’re altruistic enough to bring a school party to a Shakespeare matinée, threaten potential wrongdoers with tickets to the next revival of Timon of Athens, to be followed by a ten-page essay on the ethics of Apemantus.”
One of our staffers up here recently wrote about taking her daughter to her first live performance ever — all the kid wanted to do was get up and dance (it was a dance performance), and our staffer was told that she had to get the kid to calm down, quiet down, and sit still — or she had to leave. The girl, unfortunately but not surprisingly, lost interest as soon as she wasn’t able to engage the way she as a child would.
I totally get that there need to be levels of propriety. But I think we as a community really need to start thinking more outside that box, allowing for new ways to experience/interpret/participate in live theatre, or we’re going to get left in the dust…