Is the theater world imploding? In a recent West End performance of A View From the Bridge, actor Ken Stott stopped the show to demand that a group of rowdy teenagers be removed from the audience. And Patrick Stewart apparently went ballistic on a fan waiting outside the stage door of Waiting for Godot, all because Stewart noticed the fan was trying to take a photo of the megastar during curtain call.
The Guardian’s Michael Simkins attempts to justify Stewart’s outburst, blaming instead “nightmare theatre audiences full of camera flashes, ringing phones and rowdy teenagers.” He argues that they break an actor’s concentration. But I wonder if these actors are getting worked up over technologies that aren’t so much disruptions as they may be becoming the norm. And what’s more, it’s possible that those cell phones and cameras which Simkins and Stewart have deemed utterly obnoxious could actually help the industry. Audiences are already bringing their cell phones into cinemas to Twitter about the movies in real time. Sneaky audience members might capture a short video clip or snapshot of their favorite play to share with their friends online, thereby boosting word of mouth about the production. So maybe it’s not all bad.
Still, I sympathize that it can be aggravating to lose your focus from a camera flash in your face during mid-delivery of your soul-wrenching, show-stopping monologue. So at what point do these technologies stop being helpful and start being rude? At what point do we draw the line between “being involved” and “being annoying”? To resolve this, I can only think that the traditional house rules would need to be revised to be more reasonable, so that the audience would more likely abide by them. Perhaps rather than banning outright all phones, cameras, etc, the theater can amend the rules to the digital age; no flash allowed on cameras, cameras only allowed during curtain, cell phones on silent mode, for example. Or is this just being idealistic?
But even so, Stewart, what’s so awful about a fan snapping a quick photo of you during curtain call? Surely that couldn’t have disrupted your ability to bow properly. Don’t be a prat. Even Simkins has to concede on this point: don’t forget who pays your wages.
