Somebody asked if audience etiquette at the theatre and cinema is declining and received a resounding round of applause

Whether it’s watching loud TikTok videos on public transport or filming themselves in the gym, there’s no doubt that many people seem to have lost the hang of existing in public without being incredibly annoying and ruining it for everyone else.

And it seems this lack of societal respect extends to audiences at entertainment events too, if this post from cmitch987 on the AskUK subreddit is anything to go by…

Audience etiquette in 2026… is it declining? Went to a local theatre show last night (talent show type thing, my partner was performing) and I came away a bit surprised by the audience more than anything else.

Before it started, they made it clear there’d be an intermission, but throughout the first half there were loads of people getting up for the toilet, going to the bar, constantly fidgeting, in and out of rows etc. One person even started singing along during someone’s performance which felt… off.

It wasn’t just younger people either, it was a real mix of ages. I get that it’s not the Royal Opera House and it’s meant to be a relaxed environment, but it did feel quite distracting and a bit disrespectful to the people on stage. Made me wonder if this is just how things are now, where people struggle to sit still for an hour or so, or if I just got unlucky with the crowd.

Has anyone else noticed this at theatres, cinemas, or similar? Or am I overthinking it?

It appears not, as the replies showed plenty of other people who had had similar, if not worse, experiences, like these…

1.

‘I went to see a West End show a few weeks ago, at the matinee showing. It was AMAZING. What was not amazing was the child who screamed (and I do mean literally screamed) for five entire minutes throughout the show, with her parents just sitting there. It was unbelievably disruptive, and yet the parents did nothing. Well done to the usher who eventually asked them to step outside.

I get they’ve paid good money to be there, but so has everyone else. what I haven’t paid for is to listen to your kid screaming their way over the reveal of a really important plot point. It totally spoiled the experience. Why are people like this?’
–Thomasinarina

2.

‘I went to see Wicked For Good in cinema, behind me sat a family with children that made a lot of noise. At some point I had enough so I shushed them. The mother then proceeded to loudly complain about being shushed for the rest of the movie, then confronted me at the end saying how dare I and that they’re allowed to make noise as it’s a kid movie.’
–dan-kir

3.

‘I was on a train once in a quiet carriage and a woman answered her phone and was talking quite loudly. After a couple of minutes someone politely pointed out to her that she was in a quiet carriage.

She responded by very loudly and sarcastically talking to the person on the phone about “Oh apparently I’m in the quiet carriage and I’m being loud” and continued the conversation for another five minutes like that getting progressively louder. Some people respond to being called out by just dialling it up to 11 rather than admitting they’re in the wrong.’
–OSUBrit

4.

‘When I saw Spirited Away, a woman in front of me kept checking her phone every five mins, then just sitting and refreshing Insta, reading back her messages despite no one sending her new messages?? Which I knew because yeah, her phone was right in front of me!! I grassed on her during the interval and the usher said they’d tell her off. No idea if they did as I went to the loo but she stopped in the second part.

Just felt sorry for her in the end that was she was so addicted to her phone, she paid £80-100 quid for a seat for a limited show, came to see it on her own (no kids or friends as far as I could tell), and just couldn’t help refreshing and scrolling on it and ruining it for everyone behind.’
–fiveofspades94

5.

‘My wife and I saw a show recently, absolutely loved it. The only downside was when a member of the loud family in our row who talked throughout the entire show answered a phone call during the performance! We were genuinely flabbergasted.’
–AEHBlandalorian

6.

‘Gets very boring when people go “Oh it was just as bad or worse in Shakespeare or Greek times!”. I don’t care. It was better than those times for a long while and now it’s going downhill. Society respect just failing.’
–Lovecraftian666

7.

‘Screens. Screens. And more screens. Impossible not to notice in a dark theatre. People lack attention spans these days.’
–notthatbluestuff

8.

‘I hate when you go to watch a film with someone and then they just spend it looking at their phone. I might as well just watch the film on my own.’
–Amazing-Heron-105

9.

‘I was at a concert at the Royal Festival Hall, proper old fogey thing, and in my direct line of vision was a woman in a box recording on a huge iPad with the torch on. I had to get the steward to radio her colleague to get it to stop.’
–littletorreira

10.

‘Not a theatre kind of bloke but do frequently go to the cinema and I totally agree. Took my daughter last week and was fuming at the constant talking, people sitting on their phones at full brightness, the choosing to sit wherever they like despite it being packed which then leads to groups of people standing around for ages.

It’s just another example of how piss poor of an attitude people in this country have nowadays. It’s like a horrible blend of ‘the rules don’t apply to me’ and ‘as long as I have fun that’s all that matters’ kind of attitudes.’
–RoutineAbroad3486

11.

‘I work at a theatre and it’s definitely got worse. Some people can’t understand why you can’t stand up, dance and singalong to a show like Mamma Mia and will actively argue with front of house if they tell them to stop. The phones are the absolute worse as well. Why have you paid so much money to sit and scroll on your phone?’
–porksandrecreation

12.

‘I think paying for things sets a different standard of behaviour. People feel more entitlement. It reduces any sense of reciprocity. Particularly when it is an expensive ticket with bragging rights. They have paid to feel that “main character energy”.

Also, we have lost most situations where people get together in a non-commercial way. Someone can go weeks of their life and have paid for every situation they encounter. They are just not used to being in situations where there is more balanced expectations.’
–7952