00:00Would you use your phone in the middle of a live theatre performance?
00:03Well, Rosamund Pike certainly doesn't think it's okay.
00:06During a recent performance of Interallia here at London's West End,
00:10she told one audience member that she hoped it was very important.
00:14You know who you are, and I'm not going to single you out, she told the audience member.
00:18Maybe it was very important, and maybe you're a doctor, and I hope you are,
00:21but we do see these, and we feel them.
00:23Do you think it's okay to text during the middle of a performance?
00:26Well, the Independent went to London's West End to find out what theatregoers really think,
00:31and should you keep your phone away?
00:34You should be shot if you do that.
00:35It's so rude. I don't even like when people make any noise.
00:38Like, if you have an electrical fan in a theatre, that annoys me.
00:41Well, it just distracts for other people around you, doesn't it?
00:43Even if you've got it on silent, usually the screen is very distracting.
00:47It's rude. You wouldn't expect someone to have a conversation sat next to you.
00:51So why should you do the same with a mobile phone? It's just not the same thing.
00:54I'm going to be honest. Of course, I've done it.
00:57At concerts, I like to record, but also at normal theatres with actors, I've also done it.
01:02Some may be a bit boring, a bit long.
01:06What have you used your phone to do? Like, to text?
01:08Text. Text my girls, you know.
01:10No.
01:11Unless you're seeing something that explicitly says you can record this and then send it out.
01:16Unless it's kind of explained or said to you, don't do it.
01:20It's so awful for an actor trying to create a connection and seeing rows of people with blue lights.
01:30You know, theatre's sacred.
01:32You know, we want to take, we want to be present, don't we?
01:35We want to feel what the characters are feeling.
01:40We want that loop that connects us all together with the other audience members.
01:44What other spaces are there where you can be truly present like that?
01:49So, did people think that Rosamund was justified in her actions?
01:53Yeah, absolutely.
01:54I mean, she's a premiere actor in a format that demands attention.
02:01And I think it's important, you know, that art is so important for society for so many reasons.
02:07But, um, yeah, I absolutely think so.
02:11But I don't know if, like, as a member of the audience, I'd be, like, asking people to put their
02:15phones away.
02:16You probably wouldn't.
02:17I don't know.
02:18I would feel, I would probably, like, stare at them and, like, give them a look.
02:22But, like, probably not, like, actually pull them out.
02:25And in cases where actors don't step in to call out the behaviour,
02:28who do you think has the responsibility to manage theatre etiquette?
02:32You need ushers and people in the thing to patrol it.
02:35You know, obviously that's an extra cost, but, yeah, it needs to be, uh, placed.
02:40Social etiquette's gone out the window these days.
02:42People are going to do what they're going to do.
02:43They're just, they're going to do it.
02:45Um, you can only do so much.
02:47People have to take some level of personal responsibility, I think.
02:51Yeah, agreed.
02:51I think as a community we can do it.
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