Friday's "Faux Pas" Five...eating and drinking in track pants and Crocs are perfectly acceptable at the movies, but...
by David King
It's too bad that a fear of formality will sometimes keep casual, new theatre-goers away from a venue that they consider the pretentious confines of "high art". And while that “frou-frou” is a myth in our contemporary theatre circles, theatre etiquette does exist in the context of our communal experience.
Most of the time, your decorum will revolve around the atmosphere of the venue, whether or not you are attending an opening premiere, or of course what your pre-show or post-show plans are for the evening ahead. Although there has never been a theatre I've needed to attend in a suit, it's awfully fun dressing up with either a thematic approach or a business casual outfit that blends with both the crusty blue rinse crowd and the Goth girl in row DD.
Your behaviour differs to cinema in only a few ways (eating and drinking in track pants and Crocs are perfectly acceptable at the movies, but wherever you are we can still hear you whispering, dammit). Simply put, using your common sense is the best means of earning your fellow spectators' respect – no matter where you are in public. We've all heard about the usual set of theatre rules (turning off cell phones and unwrapping candy wrappers, etc). They're so common that most theatres will spend time creating inventive tongue-in-cheek recordings to remind us that we're ignorant S.O.B.s with A.D.D. and no respect for the sacred stage before us. But guess what? Most of us are.
