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Post by jake on Dec 12, 2024 8:59:35 GMT
At Come From Away at the Lowry last night, encountered something I've heard of on here previously but never witnessed- the audience member who has to show everyone they know the show with their exaggerated responses. As soon as she sat next to me I guessed she'd be that type from the way she was talking. When it started there were overly loud laughs, groans and "awws", many to lines which didn't warrant a reaction. As we were sat right at the front the cast must have heard her too. I think it was Linda Smith who used to mock this phenomenon as it applied to opera audiences. People would laugh just to show they knew something was meant to be funny despite the fact that the joke was a century or more out of date and delivered in a language that most people wouldn't understand even if they could hear the words through the coloratura delivery. Interesting you mention the Lowry. There used to be a very tiresome regular at Manchester theatres who would ruin performances by laughing like a foghorn at anything that was mildly amusing. In most cases you could just hope you didn't choose the same performance as him and you'd usually be lucky. But he stopped me booking for the excellent Manchester Met drama school productions because they had very short runs and the chances of being stuck in the same audience as him for a couple of hours was enough to put me off. |
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Post by hannechalk on Dec 12, 2024 9:20:05 GMT
At Come From Away at the Lowry last night, encountered something I've heard of on here previously but never witnessed- the audience member who has to show everyone they know the show with their exaggerated responses. There is a woman who is obsessed with a certain Blood Brothers-actor. Turns up to everything he's in multiple times, and is borderline stalking him. Her picture is shown to the whole company at every production, with the request not to let her anywhere near backstage (or the actor). Her social media posts heavily hint they have a friendly relationship, when he's blocked her on everything. When she's in, she'll make a louder noise than usual in quieter bits - she'll laugh just before the audience does (or a bit longer), whoops, or gasps, hoping any of the cast will say 'I heard you' afterwards. One time she wolfwhistled him when he was playing the character at a non-legal age. That was a bit creepy. (No, I'm not talking about me, honest.) |
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Post by ceebee on Dec 12, 2024 9:25:01 GMT
At Come From Away at the Lowry last night, encountered something I've heard of on here previously but never witnessed- the audience member who has to show everyone they know the show with their exaggerated responses. As soon as she sat next to me I guessed she'd be that type from the way she was talking. When it started there were overly loud laughs, groans and "awws", many to lines which didn't warrant a reaction. As we were sat right at the front the cast must have heard her too. Consider yourself lucky - at Barnum at the Watermill, I was constantly distracted by two women in the gallery who were mouthing the words to e v e r y s i n g l e line and song. These people are attention seekers who really ought to learn, as they are in the audience, that they are not actually part of the show. |
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Post by jake on Dec 12, 2024 9:55:58 GMT
Wow. Finally, after 16 years of West End theatregoing I’ve witnessed a show stop tonight, and it was at Macbeth at the Pinter with my £35 balcony ticket I bought way back in April. All is going well for the first hour and we’re at a tense scene with David Tennant’s title character, but we slowly start to hear another voice rambling on in the background during the scene - is it part of the show, we wonder? Or a tech desk/usher radio that’s louder than it should be? A stage manager suddenly runs on, explains the show has to be stopped due to an issue in the upper circle, and David calmly gets up and leaves the stage. Immediately followed by the sound of an idiot in said upper circle shouting “THE ISSUE IS I WENT TO THE TOILET AND THEY’RE NOT LETTING ME BACK IN!” and we immediately realise where that voice was coming from. An entire audience groan, boo and eventually slow handclap him until he gets the hint and leaves, which he finally does after several agonising minutes to many cheers and the play can resume, David walking back on stage and effortlessly carrying on with the show like a pro. I’m fascinated by the idiot’s efforts to try and either ruin the show for everyone (the No Readmittance is emailed to everyone in advance and communicated clearly on entry and preshow) or possibly hope the ushers would just give up and let him back in if he caused enough fuss which would have made a mockery of the rule. I’m so glad all was eventually sorted and we thanked the staff for how well they dealt with him after the show! Were it not for the fact that this incident was mentioned on the radio this morning I'd ask if you were being serious. Not that I doubt you, of course - I just wonder if I'm the only person who's seen this production and finds what you describe rather familiar. Life imitating art - or even a deliberate stunt by the HPT? I can't elaborate without a spoiler so some of you might want to skip the next paragraph. Spoiler
When I saw this the (imo) tiresome drunken porter/wannabe standup comedian scene incorporated a bit where the actor was heard over the headphones* apparently arguing with an usher who was refusing him re-admission. Among his pleas was 'but I'm in the show'. He could also be seen in one of the boxes (as opposed to the upper circle) and eventually made his way down to the stage to continue his 'comic' routine (which included very little material actually written by Shakespeare).
*the one thing I did find witty was when he said look at you with your headphones - £200 a ticket to listen to the radio. |
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