Five Theatre Do’s and Dont’s
We’ve compiled a list of the top five most distracting theatre-going no no’s, and how to avoid these surprisingly common faux pas!
SHOWING UP LATE
Sometimes, arriving late is unavoidable. Especially with limited parking available onsite. (You can find our best tips for parking near the theatre HERE.) But leaving yourself some extra time to arrive is important! Otherwise, you’ll miss out on experiencing the full performance, and distract others in the audience from experiencing the show to its fullest.
DISTRACTORS BEWARE
Ask any actor – performing live in front of an audience is a tough gig, so it’s just the kind and considerate thing to do to be attentive to the performance. Generally eating, talking, whispering, or unwrapping candy or cough drops takes away from the audience’s energy that the performers rely on to make the show the best it can be. And seatkickers – seriously!? Just stop.
LEAVING THE THEATRE MID-SHOW
We get it: when you gotta go, you gotta go. That being said, we encourage our guests to visit the restroom prior to the start of your show.
SMARTPHONES
We know you’re important people, and you’ve got stuff going on in your life, but the theatre isn’t the place to be texting your friends, setting up a date with that hottie from POF or watching Randy Rainbow’s latest parody. (We love him too.) No matter how inconspicuous you think you may be, we promise we can see your smartphone, and so can the actors on stage. If you can’t resist being un-reachable for a few hours, we have an annual Tweet Night where the audience members can tweet live from their theatre seat. Consider it our olive branch to our tech-dependent friends.
NOT HAVING FUN
Cast members love seeing audiences engaged in the performance and having a great time! Don’t hesitate to express your reaction during laugh-out-loud moments, tender scenes, and surprising plot twists.
ATP’s 2018/19 season features exciting changes, including a new seating configuration, 6-ticket Flex Passes, a Pay-What-You-Can Preview (first Tuesday) for all shows, and $15 Wednesday previews for all core season shows!
