By Chanel Sheridan
A quick scan of theatre news highlights that there is clearly something going on with audiences since lockdowns ended and returning to theatre with few restrictions. From the horrid stories of misbehaving audience members, such as the singing that cancelled a Manchester production of The Bodyguard, to endless Twitter and Reddit users posting their experiences online, it feels as though there has been a major shift in audiences since returning from the pandemic (Bland 2023). Yet, looking further back, we can see some of the same discussions appearing in 2015 after an audience member attempt to charge their phone from an outlet on stage (“Man climbs onto Broadway stage” 2015). This blog post will explore the trends in audience misbehavior, focusing specifically on the surge in discussion in both 2015 and post-pandemic, highlighting the patterns I have witnessed within my research on audience etiquette. I hope to build on this topic and its discoveries throughout future blog posts, using this first one to lay a foundation through which I can build on with greater analysis.
With headlines such as “Story of the Week: Is Theatre Etiquette Dead?”, “Has Covid-19 affected Theatre etiquette?”, and “Theatre etiquette: Do you sing-along at musicals? Are we becoming ruder? And what to do about drunk patrons? Toronto Ushers weigh in”, it seems as though we are experiencing a crisis with audience etiquette (Stweart 2023; Cudzikova 2023; Sumi 2023). There are ample news articles that highlight how audience members are not only no longer adhering to audience etiquette, but also abusing staff members and causing shows to stop. Bywater (2023), Healy (2023) and Hujl (2023) are among some of the authors which describe how things have changed, citing how “complaints were up to 150 percent on pre-pandemic" and surveys which describe 70% of respondents reporting an increase in “bad audience behaviour” that has increased since reopening after the pandemic.
Speculations on why we’re seeing this increase in bad etiquette vary from increased alcohol consumption, audience expectations not matching with advertising and desired audience behaviour, to audience members becoming more narcissistic and entitled. The entitlement is possibly due to the increase in ticket costs as “people who pay ridiculous sums to see a West End production feel entitled to do what they like” paired with “disputes between audience members who feel entitled to warble along to their favourite songs, and those who expect to watch the shows in silence” (Hjul 2023; Saville 2022). Yet, as Sedgman outlines in their book, published before the pandemic, they “have found a tendency to assume that breaches [in audience etiquette] can be put down to a rise in audience ‘entitlement’” (Sedgman 2018:125). While they go on to say that they had noticed a change in audience behaviour at the time, this ultimately reveals that audience etiquette seems to be frequently sounding the alarm on the entitlement of audience members.
Looking back to the conversation on audience etiquette that occurred in 2015 also reveals some interesting similarities to ongoing conversations currently. Despite the conversation being smaller and seemingly less urgent, there is still the notion of audience entitlement and narcissism present in the articles from 2015. An article from the CBC highlights how “inconsideration isn’t new, or particular to theatres. But as technology and social media blur lines between personal and public, ‘there’s been an erosion in people’s norms of public space’” (Associated Press 2015). Both instances put the blame of audience misbehaviour onto a lack of knowing how to engage with others, often further blamed on some force that is separating people from each other socially; In 2015, it was the rise of technology and phone use in theatres that sparked the discussion, while in 2023, the isolation and lockdowns forcing people to stay home seems to be the focus.
Yet, despite the similarities and constant discussions surrounding the end of theatre etiquette, there is no mention of the surge in conversation from 2015 in articles being written today. As Bland (2023) puts it straightforwardly, it seems strange that “the good old days of polite theatregoing always seems to have just finished”, almost seeming to erase or forget previous conversations surrounding theatre etiquette. However, one major difference to highlight between the discussion in 2015 and today is that the conversation post-pandemic is heightened with urgent calls for action. The tone of news articles is more dramatic, angry, and patronizing with a focus on the more serious of issues such as verbal and physical assault, disrupting shows, and vomiting in the aisles rather than the smaller disruptions of eating and phone calls seen in the 2015 articles.
While more research and analysis needs to be conducted, there is clearly some kind of shift that is occurring, having escalated from 2015 after the pandemic, though what exactly is happening still remains to be seen. As Lueger speculated in 2015, “perhaps the rules promulgated by Wagner and his contemporaries are finally starting to show their age”. Whether theatre etiquette as we know it breaking down, the pandemic’s isolation made us forget how to be around each other, or something else altogether, whatever has been brewing since 2015 is shifting audience behaviour.
Bibliography
Associated Press. “Broadway audience boorishness, smartphone fauz pas get spotlight.” CBC News, July 20, 2015. https://www.cbc.ca/news/entertainment/broadway-audience-boorishness-smartphone-faux-pas-get-spotlight-1.3160011.
Bland, Archie. “Tuesday briefing: Is there really a crisis in theatre audience behaviour – or is this all overdramatic?” The Guardian, April 11, 2023. https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/apr/11/first-edition-theatre-audience-behaviour.
Bywater, Thomas. “Bodyguard musical performance halted by singing audience, theatre etiquette is split.” NzHerald, April 12, 2023. https://www.nzherald.co.nz/travel/bodyguard-musical-performance-halted-by-singing-audience-theatre-etiquette-is-split/T3QVRICISZGDJCJDJMCMLWW6OE/.
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Hjul, Jenny. “Mamma Mia! Poor audience behaviour is taking the sheen off the theatre.” Reaction, April 8, 2023. https://reaction.life/mamma-mia-poor-audience-behaviour-is-taking-the-sheen-off-the-theatre/.
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Sedgman, Kristy. The Reasonable Audience: theatre etiquette, behaviour, policing, and the live performance experience. Palgrave Macmillian, 2018.
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