From drunken revellers singing over emotional ballads at jukebox musicals to an opera-goer heckling a child performer, there has been a growing number of news stories since the pandemic about people behaving badly at entertainment venues. Then came the headlines about the police being called to the Bodyguard musical to quell an actual fight.
So what, exactly, is happening to British audiences, which are stereotypically seen as polite and even repressed? Theatre critic Alice Savile tells Nosheen Iqbal about her recent wild nights out at the theatre, and how front-of-house staff are finding it hard to cope. We hear from usher Bethany North on the abuse she’s experienced.
Comedian Kate Barron explains how it feels to be continually heckled and academic Kirsty Sedgeman analyses whether the pandemic and even the cost of living crisis have played a part – and why she thinks the unruliness could spread to other parts of our social lives.
Photograph: Barry Diomede/Alamy
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