Mobile Phones to Be Banned in Theatres?

A director has said that mobile phones could be banned in the West End to stop patrons from filming. On the Simon Morris blog this week, I ask, could this really happen?

Simon Morris Wishes He Could Throw Mobile Phones into the Thames!

We all know it’s really annoying when you’re watching a musical you’ve spent money to see, and have waited for, for ages, when someone breaks out their phone. Whether they’re answering a text, calling a friend or filming a production with plans to post it later on YouTube, it makes you want to grab the phone and throw it into the Thames.

Whilst I have blogged about how to be an audience member when watching a musical theatre production, and I did talk about mobile phones, I do recognise that we need to have them on us when we’re in a theatre. That’s why I’ve always been dubious when West End personnel have talked about banning mobile phones in theatres (and they talk about it a lot). It just seems so impractical.

He Was Only Texting His Son, Who Was Ill.

And someone else has been at it recently; this time acclaimed West End director Anthony Biggs. According to the Daily Mail (who absolutely love this kind of thing) Biggs made the suggestion due to audience members constant need to film productions.

The publication has revealed that recently, actor David Judge interrupted a performance Athol Fugard’s Statements. Why? He and Jasmine Hyde, a fellow cast member, saw a man in the front row using his phone continuously. They thought he was filming them. Turns out, he was just texting his son, who was ill.

Phones Can “Ruin the Experience” But the Audience Does Tend to Rely on Them

This lead Biggs; artistic director at Jermyn Street Theatre, where the production was based, to make the suggestion that phones should be banned in the West End. He said that phones can “ruin the experience,” for the audience, and that because of this, new measures may need to be put in place to curb mobile phone use in shows.

I get what Biggs is saying. I also think it’s highly impractical. In this day and age, people use their phones all the time, that’s just a fact. Stop them, and watch, as ticket sales plummet faster than the economy did back in 2008.

Simon Morris Suggests that Actors Just suck it up!

Simon Morris readers, I really do understand how annoying mobile phones are when you’ve invested you heard earned time and money into watching a musical in the West End. However, in modern life, you just have to suck it up and deal with it. These are some of our country’s best actors. If they can’t put up with a few mobile phones, maybe they aren’t really up to the job!