‘Stupid’ England fans sink Titanic tear-jerker
AS ACTORS starring in a musical about Titanic came to their most poignant lifeboat scene, they may have expected the sound of a few muffled sniffs or rustling tissues from the stalls.
They could not have reasonably prepared for the loud celebrations of two women watching England’s World Cup penalty shoot-out on their mobile phones from the front row.
Stars of the show condemned the worst offender in their Tuesday night audience as “the stupidest woman on the planet”, while calling the pair “the most ignorant audience members I have ever had the misfortune to perform in front of ”.
Two women at the front of the audience for Titanic The Musical at the Theatre Royal in Nottingham audibly celebrated each goal during the shootout between England and Colombia, even as the production was going on.
As an emotional lifeboat scene unfolded on stage, Eric Dier scored England’s winning penalty, with noisy celebrations being heard over the performance.
Niall Sheehy, who plays Barratt, a stoker, in the musical, wrote on Twitter: “To the two women in the front row tonight who not only followed the penalty shoot-out on their phone, but also said ‘yesss’ on each goal scored, you are the most ignorant audience members I have ever had the misfortune to perform in front of.
“And when a cast member signalled ‘put your phone away’ during the bows and you smiled, gave a thumbs up and replied ‘I know – we won’, I think you may have let us all know you are the stupidest woman on the planet.
“Please avoid attending any future theatrical productions.” Kieran Brown, another cast member, wrote: “Dumbfounded. 2 ladies, 1 older, 1 middle aged, slap bang front row clearly watching football on phones dur- ing the most poignant moment of lifeboats scene, cheering and giggling like stupid schoolgirls.” Jonathan Saville, the interim venue director of the Theatre Royal and Royal Concert Hall Nottingham, said: “On Tuesday evening, our front of house team informed every member of the audience on entering the auditorium that they should turn off their mobile phone.
“It would seem that these two audience members seated … only a few feet from the stage perhaps had not realised that their actions could be both seen and heard. Our staff are vigilant in stopping this kind of behaviour, where it is practical to do so without further distracting from the action on stage, but we do rely on people using courtesy and respect … when they come to see a live theatre performance.”
It is not the first time audience members have behaved badly at shows.
In 2015, the cast of Hand To God on Broadway were alarmed when an audience member climbed on to the stage to plug his phone charger into a socket.
In 2009, Patti Lupone, the US actress, stopped a performance of Gypsy when a phone flash went off and, in 2015, she snatched a phone from a woman who was texting in the middle of the play Shows for Days.
Benedict Cumberbatch had to urge fans to stop recording during Hamlet at the Barbican, and audience members for Doctor Faustus, starring Game Of Thrones actor Kit Harington, thought nothing of eating a box of chicken nuggets during the show in 2016.
During the stage musical Titanic on Tuesday, two women in the front row watched the England-colombia penalty shootout on their mobiles, one even hissing “Yess” when “we” put the ball into the net. The cast was not so pleased. One actor was “dumbfounded”. Titanic’s matinee is at just the time England plays Sweden tomorrow, and the actors hope not to experience a sinking feeling again in front of distracted fans. It’s not just theatres. Weddings are particularly susceptible to distraction: “Two shall be one flesh,” it says in the service. Is it to be 2-1, then? Or will hymn-numbers be an omen? Hymnomancy, certainly, is as good a prognostication as cephalopodomancy. But it’s if a shootout distracts taxi-drivers in traffic, butchers as their cleaver descends or surgeons inserting a delicate suture that real penalties could be paid.