A patron at the Palace Theatre in Manchester said their experience at a recent show 'was like Victoria Station at rush hour' due to the number of people who got up and disturbed the performance for others.
The attendee, who asked not to be named, said the September 19 performance of the Jersey Boys musical at the city centre theatre had been 'disrupted' on numerous occasions by late arrivals and 'aggressive' behaviour of people within the audience.
Constant disruptions in the first half
“There were a few people who were late to the beginning of the show, and then people just kept getting up and out of their seats and moving around,” the audience member explained. “I don’t mind it a couple of times, but this must have been about 20 times in the first half.
“Everytime they got up, they were just completely blocking my view because the staircase was in my line of sight. One person got up three times in the first half - it wasn’t an isolated incident, it was constant. It was like being at Victoria Station during rush hour, there were so many people walking up and down.”
“I understand people have emergencies but this can’t have all been emergencies,” they added. “I understand the restricted view seats also aren’t the most comfortable, but people know roughly how long a show is going to last, and it just felt like bad behaviour. It completely ruined the experience of the show.”
Aggressive behaviour and staff response
The attendee said that one person also became 'very aggressive and started swearing' when they were asked to be quiet, having been loudly talking and laughing throughout moments of the show.
“It made us feel quite unsafe,” they added. “I was just a few seats away from them and it did feel like a fight was about to break out between them. Staff eventually responded to the incident, but I feel like they could have intervened sooner.”
The patron said they, as well as other attendees, spoke to a manager of the theatre during the interval. They were told a number of people had been asked to leave, but the customer said they felt it had taken too long for staff to properly address the disturbances.
Formal complaint and theatre's response
Following the show, the audience member sent in a formal complaint to the theatre and asked for a refund of their £15 ticket. They explained: “The ticket was not expensive, but I paid to watch a show I could not properly enjoy and I feel like I deserved the money back.”
In a response to the customer on Friday (September 25), which the M.E.N has seen, the theatre apologised for the disruption and explained that latecomer policies are individually set by the production company, rather than the venue itself, and will therefore differ from show to show.
A spokesperson for the venue also told the customer that they cannot force patrons to remain in their seats, however they do have staff across all areas of the theatre to monitor behaviour. It also said it operates a 'three-strike rule' to allow people to improve their behaviour before taking action, outside of extreme cases where immediate ejection is required.
In response, the theatre said it would use the patron’s experiences to further develop staff training and service, and offered a 'gesture of goodwill' in the form of a ticket for a free drink, an ice cream and a programme at a future show. The Palace Theatre declined to comment when approached by the Manchester Evening News.
Asked what they made of their response, the customer said: “I think they have a duty of care to all of their patrons and they shouldn’t be molly-coddling people who cause disruptions on the grounds of inclusivity.
“The cost of the drink, ice cream and programme will probably be more than the price of the original ticket and I appreciate the gesture, but I do think it’s the principle. I was not able to properly see the performance I paid for because of the way they handled the problems of others.”
Whilst a regular attendee of the Palace Theatre with a number of bookings already in the place, the customer said the handling of the situation itself would make them reconsider buying more tickets to shows at the venue in the future.
“I will think twice about going to the Palace again,” they said. “It hasn’t been a great experience and I'm not satisfied with their response. If it happens again, I’ll certainly be going up to the staff right away instead of waiting for the interval.”
