Why are audiences so poorly behaved these days? — Page 8

It follows the fall of movie theatre cinema behavior and it comes down to one thing: money.

As in, "I paid a ton of money for this experience so I'm going to enjoy it the way I want."

Theatre owners don't help by treating it like an amusement park, selling popcorn and concessions in noisy cellaphane bags.

MasterThespian 2 said: "Broadway is a business, so it will exhaust all opportunities to make money. That means selling food and drink. I’m sure both are key money makers. The theatres aresimply capitalizing on peoples’ addiction to feeding their faces. Can’t survive two hours without shoveling in calories. It’s also funny that most then complain about how small theatre seats are. Yup, it has nothing to do with your XXLa$$."

Funny how Broadway survived by selling food/drink but only allowing it to be consumed outside the theater for many years. My complaint is that some theaters have very little legroom which can make things uncomfortable for somebody over 6ft tall like myself. That being said, it is not going to change so I just have to "buck it up" in certain theaters.

 

Sutton Ross said:

I never understand the passive aggressive "speaking in one's direction hoping they will hear it" crap that never does a thing. If the lights go down and someone is on their phone, you command them to put their phone away. In my experience, considering the cost of tickets, you will have many people saying it so that person gets the hint. If they do not, you immediately get security. That way you are not waiting for someone else to do the right thing, or hoping they will become a better person throughout the show (nah). I had three drunk women kicked out of Company because they were drinking from PLASTIC flasks and live streaming it, the three security dudeshad to literally force their bodies up and out of seats. It was beautiful. The only other dramatic thing was me telling a man to put his iPad (yep) away and him hissing at me in Japanese. I took it from his hands, immediately handed it to an usher, and he was out of there.

 

Hey America's Sweetheart -- did you do this the same day you saw Audra in a midtown hotel lobby?

 

 

Tempest in the stalls as baby disrupts Kenneth Branagh RSC performance | Theatre

https://www.theguardian.com/stage/2026/jun/09/baby-disrupts-kenneth-branagh-rsc-performance