This is a topic that seems a constant issue – behaviour of theatre audiences.
We went to see Moulin Rouge and, don’t get me wrong, we loved the show, but the audience not so much.
It was about 5 minutes before the show was due to start and the cast are out on the stage, as the beginning is immersive. The man in front of me was watching football on his phone. I did wonder if he was going to continue but another couple came and sat next to them. The man from the couple who arrived just looked and said this is going on, on stage, pointing to the girls on stage, with fishnets and leotards or Can Can skirts and your watching that.
Immediately the man turned off his phone and put it away.
Before the show started there was an announcement advising that the audience should refrain from singing along, even at the end of the show. I just thought it might be a problem at the end but every time there was a song that the two ladies next to me knew, they started to sing along. When they didn’t know the songs they started discussing where they knew one of the characters from, a TV show.
As if that wasn’t enough to be going on, it was the interval and we made our way to the Accessible Toilet. There were two ladies in front of us, one helping the other attempt to get there, without her wheelchair. We went with Dave’s wheelchair and as we walked through the door that leads to the Accessible Toilet and Lift, a boy jumped over my husband’s wheelchair in an attempt to get to the toilets before us. He was sent back, by the theatre staff, as he didn’t need the Accessible Toilet but he didn’t want to go to the other toilets at the back of the stalls, so he was allowed to wait. However, his wait was long, there is a reason that disabled people need an Accessible Toilet and sometimes they are a long time, due to the nature of their disability.
Bearing this in mind, I wouldn’t advise waiting for the Accessible Toilet, if there is an alternative.
I wish people wouldn’t be so selfish, watching your phone, singing in a show, talking and jumping over people in wheelchairs to get to the toilets. These are all really no no’s at the theatre.
