Letters to the Editor

A lesson in audience manners

Dear Editor,

    I attended a speech and presentation made by Eric Krug and his mother in the A&S Auditorium Tuesday, Oct. 16 and was touched by the words of a young adult and his family whose lives were brought to a halt after Eric was in an accident involving drunk driving. However, I was completely appalled by the behavior of some of the students who attended the event and would like to remind anyone who will become an audience member of some theatre and auditorium
etiquette. 
    Firstly, when a presentation is scheduled to begin at 7 p.m., an audience member is expected to be seated, ready to watch, at 7 p.m. Technical difficulties and lack of available seating aside, groups of people were still arriving five and ten minutes after the presentation was scheduled
to begin. 
    While I’m glad the event was well attended, it seemed like a few groups required members to be there or that some classes required students to attend.  Rather than sit and make the best of having to spend an hour in a crowded auditorium, the girl to the right of me felt the need to read her Cosmopolitan magazine through the lecture and the girl on the left of me was too busy text messaging to applaud at the end.  I certainly hope that Mrs. Krug, who came from Atlanta with her disabled son, who spoke through the use of a speaking computer, did not see these things.
    I have a lot to say about cell phones in a theatre – more than is necessary for this letter, however I will say this: for the sake of the speaker or performer, please silence your phone.  No one reminded the audience to turn off their electronic devices before the presentation began.  One would think that it would be habit to put your cell phone on silent by now, but I can understand how someone could forget – which is just what happened.  If the first phone that rang was an honest mistake, the second phone that rang was inexcusable.  After the first ring interrupted the speech, several people, including myself, checked our phones to make sure it was put on silent. Why didn’t the owner of the second phone? And where you may think that you are being considerate to the rest of the audience or the speaker by texting instead of talking during a presentation or performance, the constant ticking as you text and the flashes of light that spotlight as you open the phone to respond are just as rude, if not more so. 
    My last bit of auditorium etiquette comes in the form of food.  Several disposable cups and to-go boxes walked in the A&S Auditorium.  I’m not sure how they were able to eat while listening to Mrs. Krug talk about her son’s lengthy recovery and while watching a video presentation detailing Eric’s life before the accident, the horrific pictures of the car after the accident, and the moving footage of Eric using a walker to slowly walk his sister down the isle on her wedding day.  How disrespectful – not only to the presenters, but to the custodial staff that cleans the auditorium.  I hope they threw their trash away when they left. 
    I don’t want to come off sounding like a theatre snob.  Perhaps the people around me did not realize how rude they were being and maybe they never were told to eat before they arrive and to get your seat before an event is scheduled to begin so that it can start on time, or that by reading a magazine or using their cell phones during the performance, they are distracting other audience members and are being disrespectful to the speaker that has taken time out of their schedule to share something with the audience.  Perhaps we should put ourselves in the shoes of the speaker, and maybe then we can all be better audience members. 

Ruthanne Bargeron
Senior
Mass Communication

Posted by Colonnade Archives on Oct 18 2007. Filed under Letters to the Editor, Opinion. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry