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Riot police called to a performance of The Bodyguard in Manchester; “Rude and abusive” audience members removed from the balcony of a West End performance of Grease by police and a performance of Meat Loaf’s Bat Out Of Hell at London’s Peacock Theatre brought to a standstill by a man hurling abuse at fellow theatregoers.

With all these incidents occurring this year alone, it’s no surprise that a recent survey of theatre staff showed many feared for their safety, reporting kicking, punching, choking, sexual assault and racial abuse while going about their work. There was even a mass brawl in one venue.

At the start of the year, naked photos of actor James Norton circulated online after audience members defied theatre instructions not to film during the play A Little Life, taking photos regardless.

The violation led some to speculate that West End shows could insist audience members hand in their phones ahead of performances, particularly those featuring well-known celebrities.

Such anti-social behaviour during performances eclipses previous audience misdemeanours of loud talking, rustling sweet packets and late arrivals, once considered the height of poor audience etiquette.

And it’s not just in theatres. Singers on the stage are having to run the gauntlet after a spate of attacks with items hurled from the audience.

Ava Max was slapped in face and scratched in the eye by a stage-invading fan; Bebe Rexha was hit in the face by a phone thrown by an audience member “because it would be funny”; and Harry Styles was hit in the eye by an itinerant Skittle.

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So, why have some audience members seemingly lost the plot, and is behaviour getting worse?

Dr Kirsty Sedgman, a specialist in cultural studies and human behaviour and senior theatre lecturer at the University of Bristol told Sky News: “Live performance venues have always been the canary in the coal mine. Big societal frustrations and social changes tend to erupt in the performance venues first.”

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Theatregoers thrown out as crowd boos

‘You’ll be dancing in the aisles’

Unofficially known as Doctor of Audiences, Dr Sedgman has worked with a range of arts organisations across the UK, as well as appearing on panels with arts venue managers, people from various customer facing industries and the police on issues of anti-social behaviour at live events.

She says management of audience expectation is key to improving the situation, with marketeers recently called to account for misleading the public in a bid to boost ticket sales.

“Theatres have started to ban slogans like, ‘It’s the best party in town’ or ‘You’ll be dancing in the aisles,’ because often when audiences get there they are told, ‘You might have been led to expect that, but you’re not allowed to get up and dance and sing’.”

Pic: @Joelr_23/PA
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Ava Max. Pic: @Joelr_23/PA

Why might people be people acting up?

A night out at the theatre or at a concert is a fun event, a leisure activity, so it’s understandable that audience members want to let down their hair.

That said, for the performers and front of house staff, it’s a workplace, and as for all workers, employers have legal responsibilities to ensure a safe and healthy workplace.

Some have suggested the sale of alcohol in venues – often allowed to be consumed not just in intervals but throughout the show – could be partly to blame.

Others have pointed to the high-ticket prices giving ticketholders a sense of entitlement, and so paving the way for more challenging audience behaviour.

Or could it just be the case that after months spent in lockdown, and years juggling a worldwide pandemic, some people have forgotten how to behave post COVID?

Harry Styles hit in face in Vienna
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Harry Styles hit in face in Vienna – reportedly a rose not a Skittle on this occasion

‘Increasingly belligerent and even violent interactions’

Dr Sedgman says it’s not that simple. Her book, On Being Unreasonable, about the erosion of manners, order and respect in recent years, flags that as far back as the Ancient Greeks, some 2,000 years ago, Plato was complaining that while audiences used to be respectful of performers, they had recently found their voices and needed to be controlled with a stick.

While Dr Sedgman says something has shifted recently, she says it’s too simplistic to say that it’s just because we’ve come out of lockdown and have forgotten how to behave.

She believes the change began a few decades ago, intensified by what she calls “the disconnection economy,” by which we have been “gradually, relentlessly incentivised into individualistic modes of thinking rather than communitarian modes of thinking”.

She says the result is: “Social contracts collapsing everywhere and bad behaviour, with often increasingly belligerent and even violent interactions between different people erupting everywhere from theatres into cafes and restaurants and on public transport.”

Bebe Rexha. Pic: Instagram
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Bebe Rexha. Pic: Instagram @avamax

‘I’m sick of being told what to do with my body’

Following lockdown she says people were eager to seek out shared experiences: “Coming back from COVID, there was a real hunger by some audiences for what we call ‘collective effervescence’, which is communal experiences of shared, often more exuberant forms of joy in public space.”

However, post lock-down, audiences also appear to be more belligerent when they have their response policed by others.

Dr Sedgman says: “People are more likely now than they’ve ever been before to kick-off in response. I call it, ‘Don’t tell me what to do-itus’. There’s a sense of, ‘I’m sick of being told what to do with my body’.

“In terms of vaccines and mask wearing, we’ve seen that explode all over the social scene. But also, people feel like, ‘I’ve paid for this experience. I’m here to have fun. How dare you tell me I’m not allowed to have fun in my life?'”

Adele warns fans not to throw things. Pic: Screenshot from Mike Snedegar
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Adele warns fans not to throw things. Pic: Screenshot from Mike Snedegar

So, what’s being done about it?

A survey by the Broadcasting Entertainment Communications and Theatre Union (BECTU) earlier this year found that nearly one-third of respondents said they had been involved in or witnessed an incident where a venue had to call the police.

The findings of “disturbing” and “unacceptable” behaviour were drawn from the responses of 1,500 members, who mainly worked in front of house, hospitality, box office, stage door, sound and lighting.

While some smaller venues – including those who rely on volunteers to staff their performances – publish expected codes of conduct when visiting, there is precious little information on how patrons attending larger venues around the UK to watch plays, gigs or films are expected to behave.

The Safer Theatres Charter

BECTU is currently working on a Safer Theatres Charter, calling on theatre management companies to set clear expectations on audience etiquette.

Venues are being asked to commit to five pledges, including a zero-tolerance policy on antisocial behaviour, risk assessments relating to safe alcohol consumption and announcements before shows and on tickets about expected behavioural standards.

It is also calling for theatre management companies to provide staff with necessary training and to ensure “adequate and safe staffing levels”.

Representatives for the Society of London Theatre and UK Theatre told Sky News: “All our members take the safety of their staff, audiences, and performers very seriously.

“Incidents of poor behaviour are thankfully rare, but we want to ensure that the shared experience of theatre remains enjoyable for everyone. We continue to monitor reported incidents and work with members to develop toolkits that help venue management deal with a range of health and safety situations.”

Cardi B pictured before throwing her mic in Las Vegas. Pic: @j_blizzyy/TikTok
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Cardi B pictured before throwing her mic in Las Vegas. Pic: @j_blizzyy/TikTok

And what does the talent think?

Stars’ reaction to poor audience etiquette varies.

Renowned Broadway star Patti LuPone has previously stopped performances due to mobile phone use, at one point reportedly confiscating an audience member’s phone mid-performance and not returning it until after the show.

Meanwhile some singers have taken initiative, threatening the audience before they have the chance to misbehave. Adele, armed with a t-shirt cannon, warned her Vegas residency audience: “Stop throwing things at the artist“.

However, she has a more laid-back approach to other audience rule bending, reprimanding security guards for “bothering” an audience member who refused to sit down, telling them to “leave him alone,” because “he’s here to have fun”.

Not great for any fans sat in the rows behind, also there “to have fun,” but finding their view suddenly restricted by a young man wielding a selfie stick.

Cardi B took things to a whole different level, hurling her microphone at a fan in Las Vegas after having drink splashed over her on stage. Some might say it was an overreaction.

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Content is king

Dr Sedgman acknowledges this social media element to the issue, which she says often involves younger audience members, incentivised to create content.

“Part of this is the desire to go to an event and hold your phone up and create a video that you can share on social media or even do something rather cool to get noticed by your favourite celebrity and perhaps have that go into the public sphere too.”

Cue entire wheels of brie, the ashes of loved-ones, jewellery, phones and flowers thrown onto the stage in an attempt to quite literally connect with the celebrity performing on it.

And following the Barbenheimer phenomenon last month (the simultaneous release of tentpole movies Barbie and Oppenheimer on the same day resulting in the clever marketing ploy which boosted ticket sales for both) social media was awash with examples of fights and disruption as the result of poor cinema etiquette, including taking photos and filming during the screenings.

It’s all about drawing lines

Dr Sedgman says as with most things, the solution to the problem is far from simple: “Within every aspect of social life, we need mechanisms for drawing lines between appropriate and inappropriate, acceptable and unacceptable, reasonable and unreasonable behaviour.

“But we also need to think really carefully and critically about who gets to draw those lines, who has the power to judge and shame other people when that’s a really good, a positive and pro-social thing to do because it’s discouraging antisocial forms of selfish individual narcissism, but also when that might be causing harm to certain people, particularly marginalised groups, in ways that we don’t necessarily even see.”

So, while agreed audience codes of conduct might not sound like a box office hit, the protection of performers, front of house staff, and fellow audience members is an essential ingredient in making sure everyone involved has a great night out.

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Tom Cruise leads moment of silence in tribute to ‘dear friend’ Val Kilmer

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Tom Cruise leads moment of silence in tribute to 'dear friend' Val Kilmer

Tom Cruise has paid tribute to Val Kilmer, wishing his Top Gun co-star “well on the next journey”.

Cruise, speaking at the CinemaCon film event in Las Vegas on Thursday, asked for a moment’s silence to reflect on the “wonderful” times shared with the star, whom he called a “dear friend”.

Kilmer, who died of pneumonia on Tuesday aged 65, rocketed to fame starring alongside Cruise in the 1986 blockbuster Top Gun, playing Tom ‘Iceman’ Kazansky, a rival fighter pilot to Cruise’s character Maverick.

Tom Cruise, star of the upcoming film "Mission: Impossible - The Final Reckoning," leads a moment of silence for late actor Val Kilmer during the Paramount Pictures presentation at CinemaCon at Caesars Palace on Thursday, April 3, 2025, in Las Vegas. (AP Photo/Chris Pizzello)
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Tom Cruise said ‘I wish you well on the next journey’. Pic: AP

Val Kilmer in 2017. Pic: AP
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Val Kilmer in 2017. Pic: AP

His last part was a cameo role in the 2022 blockbuster sequel Top Gun: Maverick.

Cruise, on stage at Caesars Palace on Thursday, said: “I’d like to honour a dear friend of mine, Val Kilmer. I can’t tell you how much I admire his work, how grateful and honoured I was when he joined Top Gun and came back later for Top Gun: Maverick.

“I think it would be really nice if we could have a moment together because he loved movies and he gave a lot to all of us. Just kind of think about all the wonderful times that we had with him.

“I wish you well on the next journey.”

The moment of silence followed a string of tributes from Hollywood figures including Cher, Francis Ford Coppola, Antonio Banderas and Michelle Monaghan.

Kilmer’s daughter Mercedes told the New York Times on Wednesday that the actor had died from pneumonia.

Tom Cruise takes part in the Paramount Pictures presentation at CinemaCon at Caesars Palace on Thursday, April 3, 2025, in Las Vegas. (AP Photo/Chris Pizzello)
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Tom Cruise at Caesars Palace on Thursday. Pic: AP

Diagnosed with throat cancer in 2014, Kilmer discussed his illness and recovery in his 2020 memoir Your Huckleberry and Amazon Prime documentary Val.

He underwent radiation and chemotherapy treatments for the disease and also had a tracheostomy which damaged his vocal cords and permanently gave him a raspy speaking voice.

Kilmer played Batman in the 1995 film Batman Forever and received critical acclaim for his portrayal of rock singer Jim Morrison in the 1991 movie The Doors.

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He also starred in True Romance and Kiss Kiss Bang Bang, as well as playing criminal Chris Shiherlis in Michael Mann’s 1995 movie Heat and Doc Holliday in the 1993 film Tombstone.

In 1988 he married British actress Joanne Whalley, whom he met while working on fantasy adventure Willow.

The couple had two children before divorcing in 1996.

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Bruce Springsteen: The Boss to release seven ‘lost’ albums

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Bruce Springsteen: The Boss to release seven 'lost' albums

Bruce Springsteen is to release seven albums of mostly unheard material this summer.

The US singer said the songs, written and re-recorded between 1983 and 2018, were being made public after he began completing “everything I had in my vault” during the COVID-19 pandemic.

In a short video posted on Instagram, Springsteen said the albums were “records that were full records, some of them even to the point of being mixed and not released”.

The 83-song collection is being released in a box set called Tracks II: The Lost Albums and goes on sale on 27 June.

Some 74 of the tracks have never been heard before.

Springsteen first teased the release on Wednesday morning with a short social media video accompanied by text which said: “What was lost has been found”.

Tracks II is the follow-up to the star’s first Tracks volume, a four-CD collection of 66 unreleased songs, released in 1998.

NEW YORK, NEW YORK - MARCH 26, 2025: Bruce Springsteen took the stage at Carnegie Hall for People Have the Power: A Celebration of Patti Smith, an electrifying tribute to the legendary artist. The event, presented by Michael Dorf, honored Smiths profound impact on music, poetry, and activism, bringing together an all-star lineup to perform her most iconic songs. (Photo: Giada Papini Rampelotto/EuropaNewswire). Photo by: Giada Papini Rampelotto/EuropaNewswire/picture-alliance/dpa/AP Images
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Bruce Springsteen at New York’s Carnegie Hall at a tribute to Patti Smith last month. Pic: PA

The New Jersey-born rocker, nicknamed The Boss, last released a studio album in 2022.

Only the Strong Survive was a collection of covers, including songs by Motown and soul artists, such as the Four Tops, The Temptations, The Supremes, Frankie Wilson and Jimmy Ruffin.

The late soul legend Sam Moore, who died in January and was a frequent Springsteen collaborator, sang on two of the tracks.

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Springsteen is coming to the UK in May to launch a two-month tour of Europe with his E Street Band.

The shows will include performances at the Co-op Live in Manchester and Liverpool’s Anfield stadium.

The singer-songwriter has sold more than 140 million records since his debut on the music scene in 1973, according to his website.

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Stalker who believed Strictly Come Dancing judge Shirley Ballas was his aunt avoids jail

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Stalker who believed Strictly Come Dancing judge Shirley Ballas was his aunt avoids jail

A man who stalked Strictly Come Dancing judge Shirley Ballas for six years has avoided jail.

Kyle Shaw, 37, got a 20-month suspended sentence and a lifetime restraining order on contacting Ballas, her mother, niece, and former partner.

Liverpool Crown Court heard that he thought Ballas was his aunt and “began a persistent campaign of contact”.

“He believed, and it’s evident from what he was told by his mother, that her late brother was his father,” said prosecutor Nicola Daley.

The court heard there was no evidence he was wrong, and “limited evidence” he was correct.

Ms Daley said Shaw’s messages had accused Ballas of being to blame for the death of her brother, who took his own life in 2003 aged 44.

He also set up social media accounts in his name.

Shaw had pleaded guilty to stalking the former dancer between August 2017 and November 2023 at a hearing in February.

Incidents included following Ballas’s 86-year-old mother, Audrey Rich, while she was shopping and telling her she was his grandmother.

The court heard in messages to Mrs Rich, Shaw had asked: “Where’s my dad?”

Ballas was so worried for her mother’s safety that she moved her from Merseyside to London.

Shaw outside court on the day of his sentencing. Pic: PA
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Kyle Shaw outside court on the day of his sentencing. Pic: PA

In October 2020, Ballas called police after Shaw messaged her and said: “Do you want me to kill myself, Shirley?”

Posts on X included one alongside an image of her home address that warned: “You ruined my life, I’ll ruin yours and everyone’s around you.”

Another referenced a book signing and said: “I can’t wait to meet you for the first time Aunty Shirley. Hopefully I can get an autograph.”

The court was told Ballas’s niece Mary Assall, former partner Daniel Taylor and colleagues from Strictly Come Dancing and ITV’s Loose Women were also sent messages.

‘I know where you live’

On one occasion in late 2023, Shaw called Mr Taylor and told him he knew where the couple lived and described Ballas’s movements.

The court heard the 64-year-old TV star become wary of socialising and stopped using public transport.

Prosecutor Ms Daley said: “She described having sleepless nights worrying about herself and her family’s safety and being particularly distressed when suggestions were made to her that she and her mother were responsible for her brother taking his own life.”

Man accused of stalking Shirley Ballas
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Ballas has been head judge on Strictly Come Dancing since 2017. Pic: PA

Shaw cried and wiped away tears as he was sentenced on Tuesday.

The judge said the stalking stemmed from his mother telling him Ballas’s brother, David Rich, was his biological father.

“I’m satisfied that your motive for this offending was a desire to seek contact with people you genuinely believed were your family,” he said.

“Whether in fact there’s any truth in that belief is difficult, if not impossible, to determine.”

Kyle Shaw leaves Liverpool Crown Court, where he is charged with stalking Strictly judge Shirley Ballas.
Pic: PA
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Shaw pictured at court in February. Pic: PA

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Defence lawyer John Weate said Shaw had been told the story by his mother “in his mid to late teens” and had suffered “complex mental health issues” since he was a child.

He added: “He now accepts that Miss Ballas and her family don’t wish to have any contact with him and, importantly, he volunteered the information that he has no intention of contacting them again.”

Shaw, of Whetstone Lane in Birkenhead, also admitted possessing cannabis and was ordered to undertake a rehab programme.

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