Fights, vomiting and abuse: Theatregoers have forgotten how to behave, staff say
Front-of-house workers at leading West End theatres have told Sky News audiences have “forgotten how to behave” – claiming assaults and abuse are a common occurrence.
Agreeing to talk to us anonymously, we heard accounts of drunk audience members projectile vomiting in the auditorium, used condoms being found in the stalls, and ambulances being called to treat bleeding audience members after fights.
One theatre worker – who was fearful speaking out could cost him his job – said he was concerned that top management at some venues are putting “profit over safety”.
He told us how, despite a life-long love of theatre, his job has become intolerable after the COVID pandemic.
“I had a friend who is barely 5ft 2in punched in the face by a man who was 6ft 9in. She’s in her 20s.”
He said he was assaulted by a man who had arrived late and wouldn’t accept that he had to wait for an appropriate moment in the show to take his seat.
“I’d moved myself in front of the doors and he basically slammed me against the wall and then walked in, calling me a f****** w***** for doing my job… security pulled him out and he was made to apologise… but he was allowed to watch the show. I’ve just been assaulted and I’m shaken but that’s a common experience in the West End.”
As well as hearing countless examples of how audience members are routinely drunk and disrespectful, another worker even showed Sky News one theatre group’s internal incident reports.
Analysis:
Audiences behaving badly: An epidemic of anti-social behaviour
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Theatregoers thrown out as crowd boos
“We have to ask people to leave probably at least once a week,” they explained.
“There’s a huge amount of people that come to the theatre and it’s just a magical experience for them” we were told – “but there is this small minority of people that have forgotten how to behave”.
Workers told us how incidents are more frequent at jukebox musicals that clearly pitch their tickets at stag and hen dos – advertising “a raucous night out”.
“They bring in the crowds and the crowds spend money… there are offers at the bar and it’s money after a lockdown… we’ve got to do bag checks, ticket checks, get them to their seats before the show starts and they all want to go to the bar. I’ve had bar staff being shouted at… some horrible abuse goes on.”
London’s Shaftesbury Avenue
As an example of how little audience members seem to care, one theatre worker recounted: “I brought the person into the foyer and explained that we had received complaints about them being noisy, that they’d been vaping, to which they replied ‘So what?'”
Speaking to Sky News back in October, musical composer Stephen Schwartz – who has worked in theatre for over five decades on countless Broadway and West End hits from Godspell to Wicked – spoke of how mobile phones are becoming a real problem.
“What’s exasperating is the cell phones, people being on their phones and you want to say to them, you know, just go out in the lobby and text on your phone and let everybody else get on and watch the show!”
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Composer Stephen Schwartz. Pic: AP
Theatre union BECTU recently surveyed its members about this. Some 90% of the 15,000 theatre staff who responded said they regularly witnessed bad behaviour – with half saying they were thinking about quitting as a result.
Head of BECTU, Philippa Childs, said some of the stories they heard were “quite incredible”.
“People being threatened with violence, people being told somebody would be waiting for them outside of the theatre at the end of the night… the results were really shocking and what we’ve been saying to theatres is that they need to take some action to make sure their staff are protected.”
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Audience members kicked out of theatre
While Ms Childs says it’s understandable that theatres want to make up for the earnings they lost during COVID lockdowns, she wants to “make sure theatres aren’t encouraging people to arrive tanked-up”.
She adds: “Theatres were the last to open so it’s inevitable that they want to try to claw back some of that lost revenue by selling more alcohol, but I think that is a contributing factor.”
None of the theatre owners Sky News approached wanted to comment for this piece.
UK drivers are “confused” by the country’s electric car transition, ministers are being warned.
Although most drivers are not hostile towards electric vehicles (EVs), many are confused about what changes are coming and when, according to new research from the AA.
In a survey of more than 14,000 AA members, 7% thought the government was banning the sale of used petrol and diesel cars.
Around a third thought manual EVs exist, despite them all being automatic.
More than one in five said they would never buy an EV.
The government’s plan for increasing the number of electric vehicles being driven in the UK focuses heavily on increasing the supply of the vehicles.
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What you can do to reach net zero
In 2024, at least 22% of new cars and 10% of new vans sold by each manufacturer in the UK had to be zero-emission, which generally means pure electric.
Each year, those percentages will rise, reaching 80% of new cars and 70% of new vans in 2030.
Manufacturers will face fines of £15,000 per vehicle if electric vehicle sales fall short of 28% of total production this year.
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By 2035, all new cars and vans will be required to be fully zero emission, according to the Department for Transport.
Second-hand diesel and petrol cars will still be allowed to be sold after this date, and their fuel will still be available.
There are more EVs – but will people buy them?
In February, 25% of new cars were powered purely by battery and in January, they made up 21% of all new cars registered in the UK.
But despite the growth of electric sales, manufacturers continue to warn that the market will not support the growth required to hit government EV targets, and called for consumer incentives and the extension of tax breaks.
The AA suggested the government’s plan focuses on “supply but does little to encourage demand for EVs”.
It called on ministers to co-ordinate a public awareness campaign alongside the motoring industry which directly targets drivers who doubt the viability of EVs.
“Our message to government is more needs to be done to make EVs accessible for everyone,” said Jakob Pfaudler, AA chief executive.
Which? head of consumer rights Sue Davis said: “When it comes to making sustainable choices such as switching to an electric car, our research shows that people are often held back by high costs, complex choices or uncertainty.
“The government needs to provide the right information on electric vehicles and other sustainable choices so that people have the confidence to switch.”
A Department for Transport spokesperson said: “We’re investing over £2.3bn to help industry and consumers make a supported switch to EVs.
“This includes installing a public charge point every 28 minutes, keeping EV incentives in the company car tax regime to 2030, and extending 100% first-year allowances for zero-emission cars for another year.
“Second-hand EVs are also becoming cheaper than ever, with one in three available under £20,000 and 21 brand new models available for less than £30,000.
“We’re seeing growing consumer confidence as a result.”
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