Taking On The Theatre Police
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Mumbai Theatre Guide
Oct 8, 2025, 7:39:24 AMOct 8
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Wednesday, 08 October 2025
Dear Reader,
Taking On The Theatre Police
Theatregoers are periodically reminded of theatre etiquette... keep phones off, feet off the seats, dress decently and so on, but Melanie Tait has a different view about the theatre police, that she shares in theguardian.com.
"In my own networks, when theatre etiquette is mentioned I've discovered that everything from opening a lolly to daring to wear jeans is among the grievances of the theatre police," she writes, adding, "I want everyone to feel welcome, and comfortable, in the theatres my plays are on. I don't care what they wear. If they need to suck a lolly to get through the play? Go for it. I'd prefer if you turned your phone off in the first place, but if you forget and it goes off ... just turn it off now, please, so it disturbs as little of the performance as possible. No one's going to die because Janet's husband's calling her to find out where his glasses are. See, opening a Mintie or a phone going off is the least of theatres' worries."
It was the sight of a visibly unwell woman falling asleep during one of her shows that changed Tait's mind about audience behaviour. "While we can bitch and moan about what someone's wearing, complain when they accidentally leave their phone on, and when they loudly chew some Smarties, I'm absolutely stoked they've made the effort to be there. Most people are at home scrolling through their phone," she says, acknowledging that the more audiences there are in the auditorium, the more money there is for theatre!
Taking On The Theatre Police
Theatregoers are periodically reminded of theatre etiquette... keep phones off, feet off the seats, dress decently and so on, but Melanie Tait has a different view about the theatre police, that she shares in theguardian.com.
"In my own networks, when theatre etiquette is mentioned I've discovered that everything from opening a lolly to daring to wear jeans is among the grievances of the theatre police," she writes, adding, "I want everyone to feel welcome, and comfortable, in the theatres my plays are on. I don't care what they wear. If they need to suck a lolly to get through the play? Go for it. I'd prefer if you turned your phone off in the first place, but if you forget and it goes off ... just turn it off now, please, so it disturbs as little of the performance as possible. No one's going to die because Janet's husband's calling her to find out where his glasses are. See, opening a Mintie or a phone going off is the least of theatres' worries."
It was the sight of a visibly unwell woman falling asleep during one of her shows that changed Tait's mind about audience behaviour. "While we can bitch and moan about what someone's wearing, complain when they accidentally leave their phone on, and when they loudly chew some Smarties, I'm absolutely stoked they've made the effort to be there. Most people are at home scrolling through their phone," she says, acknowledging that the more audiences there are in the auditorium, the more money there is for theatre!
"A lot of what acting is paying attention."
Robert Redford
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