I have been going to the theatre for years now. I saw my first panto as a small child, I then graduated to Variety Show, both in Blackpool and in Manchester.
I think the first musical I saw was an Am-Dram version of No No Nanette. but I soon started to see Musicals in Manchester, at the Palace and The Opera House.
Within a couple of years I was making trips to London, just for the day to see a show.
I can’t remember the first play I went to see. but I think it was Romeo and Juliet or the famous Scottish Play. I loved them both.
My husband and I started going to the theatre together in 1989 and in those days there was a certain type of audience. Older people, we most likely we didn’t meet the demographic in those days, they sat and watched the show, if the show was really good there would be a standing ovation. The audience were quiet during the show, they didn’t talk and there was no risk of a mobile phone ringing the those days as very few people had one and they were the size of a brick. I remember my father in law had a Car Phone in those days. If people wanted to go out they wait until the interval.
Over the years, audiences have changed, they talk like they are watching TV at home. Every cast seem to get a standing ovation. Despite the announcements there is always a phone that rings during a show and it takes a certain type of person to answer it and start a conversation.
However, more recently something else has changed, I don’t know if the pandemic has caused this, as we were in lockdown for so long or because people were home for so long and have lost social skills. Audiences have changed, they come and go during the show, talk as if they are at home, there is no such thing as queuing for a drink or a programme, people think it is there right to walk to the front. Answering the phone and having a conversation is the norm as is recording the show. The staff try and do what they can but some people have behaved so badly it has resulted in staff being attacked and the police being called. When and why has this happened and what can we do about it?
