If being in theatre has taught me anything, it has definitely taught me how the worst in people are usually brought out in theatrical settings. Why? I guess I'll never know the answer, or at least I'll die trying. Working in theatre, I've seen the general carelessness of not turning off cell phones or walking across the stage with reckless abandon, despite their supposed (and probably genuine, yet blissfully unaware) appreciation for said set.

Seeing theatre, I've seen everything from yelling at box office staff (and me looking on apologetically, hoping they will see that someone cares) to the illegal filming of Broadway shows. Altogether, I've seen that there is a great divide between those people that I still have hope for in the world and those that I've written off as humans that will probably never learn that what they're doing is rude to everyone around them. Here is a general breakdown of this divide. Please don't find yourself falling into the first category, and if you are (or you know someone who is), there is still help out there.

The Rude Crowd

The first set of audience members that I will describe are the rude crowd. The ones that you hear stories about and think that said stories are fake until one day, you actually see it happen before your eyes. These are the ones that maybe turn their cell phones on during intermission and forget to re-silence them afterward (or just don't silence them at all) or even forget to set their Apple Watch to theatre mode. They also will sometimes hold loud conversations to either their party or others around them or will check a text message or email during the performance. They see onstage props (such as trash cans) as their own and feel free to use them at their disposal.

Exposed electrical outlet onstage? They will probably try to charge their phone with it.

Audience area connected to the stage floor? These audience members will walk across it, no doubt.

They leave during a performance to go to the bathroom and yell at house management when they can't get back in, despite hearing that they will be unable to reenter once the performance starts.

They have no respect for the actors' and designers' work in their actions, but their words speak praise.

These audience members always show up in some capacity.

The General Audience

The second set of audience members are the general audience. They enjoy a performance technology and discussion free, until intermission of course. They don't just silence their cell phones, they turn them completely off. They are nice to all staff they come in contact with and even ask about future performances and shows. They know that a stage shouldn't be walked on and that props shouldn't be messed with because that is the actors' world, and the audience doesn't live in the actors' world; they are simply invited in. These are the audience members of theatre professionals' dreams.

The thing is, the second set of audience members are most audience members. I've only ever dealt with a handful of the rude set. The thing we have to remember as a collective is that theatre is an art form, therefore, it shouldn't be messed with or touched, but definitely respected. Sometimes, people forget that, and they also forget that the actors aren't in the present day when they're performing.

If it's a show set in the 1920s, you bet we're not thinking about cell phones or women's rights. It's up to the audience to withhold that silent agreement between actors and audience where we invite you to our house for a few hours and let you escape from the outside world. Sometimes, that's forgotten, and while that's okay, we really should do better to remember it because we need an escape from reality sometimes.