talk about your reaction to the THEATRE ETIQUETTE readings and videos, and then share a distracting experience that you may have had when you attended a play. If you have never been to a play, you may
THEATRE ETIQUETTE COMMENTARY
Matthew Morrison
'Finding Neverland' (2015)
“Moments used to be captured just by paying attention, by listening and being actively involved. I don't understand where we've become with people having to take a picture of every single moment in their lives. People know that you can't take pictures or video in a theater and yet every single show, it happens. I see almost every single picture being taken of me from the stage and it is beyond distracting. And I can't even imagine how distracting it is for the people sitting behind the person taking the picture!
- Megan Hilty
- 'Noises Off' (2016)
“During Noises Off, someone in the front row was eating a bag of potato chips that smelled so bad. We were all gagging, and we almost couldn’t hear each other speak. We didn’t have body mics, we had mics on the floor, which probably wasn’t helping, they were just picking up crunching and the rustling of the bag. It was all we could hear and all we could smell and all we could focus on. Insane."
- Hugh Jackman
- 'The River' (2015), 'The Boy From Oz' (2003)
"Loud talkers! Even a whisper is too loud when you’re in theater. In the bubble outside my head, I’m always thinking, 'Do you realize I can hear you?!'"
- Nathan Lane
- 'It's Only a Play' (2014), 'The Nance' (2013)
"As far as I'm concerned, there is no food or drink that is OK during a show. If you cannot live without food or drink or your cell phone for two to three hours, then you should stay at home and watch The Bachelorette or seek psychiatric care."
- Mike Birbiglia
- 'Thank God for Jokes' (2016)*
"It’s not just their phone ringing that’s a problem; it’s the glow of the f—ing phone. I see it twice a week. If they text during the show, it’s messing up people’s experience of the darkness around them, and that’s part of the theater experience. The whole thing is that we’re all present in the room at the same time, and if people do that, it’s no good."
