Clearly, cell phone use among a large crowd during movie or live theater events is part of the generational thing. If you are old enough, you remember the struggle to find privacy while on the phone. Once upon a time, cities completely enclose public phones in booths (remember public phones?). At home, teenagers developed tactics like dragging the whole landline phone into a nearby bathroom — or begging for a phone in their own bedrooms — to keep family from hearing their conversations.
Times change, and the use of phones in public is not only widely accepted but unavoidable. It can be a bit jarring to dine at a restaurant and notice a couple at another table where both people are staring at their phones rather than talking to each other, but that’s how addictive social media companies have made their apps.
Yet as the holiday season descends upon our area with the promise of blockbuster movies and a boatload of live performance options at area venues, we suggest — in fact, we beg — that when you are in a theater with scores — if not hundreds — of others trying to enjoy the show, please pocket or purse your phone.
For starters, if you are seated close to the stage, the use of a phone, even silently, could distract the performers. But it can (and we are confident it does) dramatically distract at least some of your fellow audience members. The theater is dark except for the stage, and that’s done for a good reason: It makes the experience more immersive. Even a small rectangular of light suddenly popping up in the peripheral vision can pull the eye and mind away from what you all — presumably — came to watch.
This is true pretty much anywhere, dark or not. Research shows that the mere presence of a phone, even if not turned on or in use, can distract people from the task at hand. But a theater — especially during a live performance — presents an exceptional setting.
People attending have paid — sometimes quite a lot — to see the show. They set time aside — maybe even hired a babysitter — to be there. Performers spent weeks, months or even years honing their craft. For traveling professional troupes like touring broadway productions or ballets, many on stage have literally spent most of their lives mastering their art. Crews constructed sets, sometimes strikingly elaborate, and figured out lighting and sound systems for that specific theater.
In short, a lot of work went into the show, and many people attending want to see only the show, not your screen lighting up nearby. Phone users also presumably set aside time and paid to be there. Yet somehow, they find the need to check media posts, email, or something else more compelling than the events on stage.
Yes, there are arguments that theaters need to meet audience members where they are, and these days many are use to looking at and interacting with their phones while watching something at home on TV, sitting through meetings, or even dining at restaurants. If the small group of people with you in those circumstances don’t mind, no harm no foul.
But a public theater should be a different matter. If you aren’t interested in the show, don’t bother coming, or go out in the lobby to check your phone. At the very least, get a seat in the last row so your phone obsession is less likely to distract anyone else. You are no longer home or in a small setting where the handful of people affected can voice their indifference or concerns.
In a public theater, your messages and postings will still be there at intermission or after the lights come back up. Quick text checks to make sure it’s not an emergency (and how often is it?) won’t be too distracting to others, and since you are in the dark, dimming the screen can help reduce others’ irritation.
Be courteous, exercise restraint and enjoy the show.
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