Last night I went to the theatre. In a couple of days I’m going again. I like to go to the theatre. And ever since I was a small child I’ve known how to behave.
Last night I seemed to be in a theatre full of people, adults even, who had no idea at all. Just because a show has music you recognise, that doesn’t mean you can clap right through the song. You have no idea how it has been arranged. And when you’re in a theatre with hundreds of others and only you and your mates are clapping then maybe that’s a sign you should stop. If you are going to insist on being an arse and keep clapping, could you at least try to do it in time. People paid good money to see the professionals performing, your performance is ruining that.
Now I don’t mean to be unkind and intolerant but if you are going to take someone to the theatre who may be challenged by the environment and not understand what is expected of them then think hard before you ruin it for everyone else. Somewhere in the audience was an intellectually handicapped person who liked to sing. Problem was the “singing” was in the form of groans and moans. The opening number was a soft and gentle very quiet song. The audience could barely hear it due to the audience member accompanying them with moaning sounds.
Then there was the small girl beside me, probably about 6 or 7 years old. She insisted on sitting on her mum’s lap and leaning forward on the row of seats in front. To that she added bouncing around and swinging her pony tail back and forward effectively blocking my view. Her mother asked her to stop several times but that only resulted in the child glaring at me.
There’s a reason why they have matinee sessions.
