Don’t just blame the audience for bad behaviour at The Bodyguard

What puzzles me is that all the criticism of recent weeks has been levelled at theatre-goers, and none at the actual theatres

It seems there is more drama these days in the audience than on the stage. A near riot broke out last week at a performance of The Bodyguard at the Palace Theatre in Manchester last week. The curtain had to come down 10 minutes early and the audience was ejected. Loud arguments over audience members singing along was apparently the reason.

In previous weeks there have been actual fights breaking out at theatres, with ushers often verbally and occasionally physically assaulted by angry, drunken audience members, who according to theatre managers, feel “entitled” to act as they wish because of the high ticket prices they pay.

Some have argued that we are becoming too precious about this. After all, audiences were pretty noisy in Shakespeare’s day. I can’t agree. One needs to concentrate in the theatre, and I suspect Shakespeare’s audiences did during Hamlet’s soliloquies, and saved their bawdy improvisations for broad comedy scenes.

I’m also no great fan of singing along at jukebox musicals, which seems to be endemic. One goes to see and hear the cast sing not the person sitting next to you, who is unlikely to have the voice of the late Whitney Houston, or indeed the performer taking her role on stage.

Actually, it doesn’t even take a singalong to spoil the experience. The persistent rustling of sweet wrappers, which I had to endure from a neighbour during a particularly intense scene in A Streetcar Named Desire recently can be just as infuriating and disruptive, effectively killing the drama of the moment.

But what really puzzles me is that all the criticism of recent weeks has been levelled at audiences, and none at the actual theatres. Yet, it is theatre managements who must take their fair share of the blame, for a number of reasons.

First, let’s take that “entitlement” because of high ticket prices. Of course, that is no excuse, but if it has drawn attention to the obscenely high prices for theatre (£300 for Cabaret, £250 for Streetcar) then good.

I campaigned for many years in The Independent against high ticket prices and the iniquitous booking fees and “handling” fees that come with them. One even has to pay compulsory “restoration” fees on top of the ticket price. These poor billionaire theatre owners need our help.

Next, take those irritating sweet wrappers. I once went to a play at the Watford Palace Theatre which was directed by Harold Pinter. The sweet kiosks in the foyer looked forlorn as they had been locked up. Pinter had decreed that no confectionery be sold. He didn’t want his production disturbed. Good on him, but he was the exception. All other theatres are keen to rake in the money and never mind the disturbance.

Then there is the annoyance of audience members turning on their mobile phones. Yes, stewards always hold up those signs warning against this before the start of the performance, but rarely do they take action against offenders.

Lastly, there is the most serious example of all: booze. Drunkenness has been behind nearly all the audience disturbances in recent weeks. And po-faced theatre staff have pointed this out. Nothing to do with the theatres, then? I beg to differ.

It has never been easier to buy and consume drink at the theatre. Not only are the bars plentiful, but now you can also in most West End theatres order drinks at your seat by scanning a code with your phone.

Those same theatre managements which rail against lack of sobriety in the audience, not only encourage them to drink during performances, not only obligingly pour their alcohol into plastic cups so they can take drinks from the bar to the auditorium, they also save you the trouble of going to the bar at all by bringing the drinks to you.

I deplore bad, drunken behaviour by theatre audiences. But I know they are not the only ones to blame. Let’s factor in, too, the greed of the actual theatres in putting profits first and facilitating drinking, and indeed eating, in the auditorium.

The next time theatre owners, managers and producers rail against audiences, they should first step into the foyer and take a hard look in the gilt-edged mirror.