Edinburgh Playhouse staff scared over rising abuse - director

Staff at the Edinburgh Playhouse are "nervous and scared" due to a rise in verbal and physical abuse from patrons, according to its theatre director.

Colin Marr said the issue had become "significantly worse" since audiences returned after the Covid pandemic.

It comes after a 51-year-old man and a 54-year-old woman were charged over a disturbance during the musical Jersey Boys on 28 January.

Mr Marr alleges a staff member was punched during the performance.

Police Scotland said the two had been arrested and charged in connection with reports of a disturbance and a report would be submitted to the procurator fiscal.

Another incident this week saw a member of staff member "pushed and spat on", according to Mr Marr.

He said although such incidents only involve a minority in the 3,000-capacity venue, "on a particular Friday or Saturday night, you might have to ask three or four groups to leave because of their behaviour".

"Sometime they react in a violent manner," he said. "From talking to other theatres throughout the UK, it is happening at a huge number up and down the country."

Mr Marr said some patrons have shown disregard for whether their behaviour disturbs performances - something he said staff had not seen before.

He said: "If someone is either singing really loudly or maybe standing up and spoiling the enjoyment of others, we might get a complaint or we see it ourselves and ask them to change their behaviour.

"Nine times out of 10, the person is embarrassed but on a small number of occasions, they become aggressive, start shouting and swearing at our staff and it ends in violence.

"The reaction is 'I have paid for my ticket, I don't care if other people can't see or hear'."

Mr Marr added he was concerned about the impact on staff of dealing with aggressive audience members.

"It is not nice and you don't get used to it," he added. "It is a cumulative thing.

"If it's a one-off, you could brush it off but when you deal with two in a row, you can get down about it and then get a bit nervous and scared to come into work."

The King's Theatre in Glasgow issued a similar appeal on social media during the recent run of The Bodyguard featuring the songs of Whitney Houston, urging audiences not to sing along during shows.

It added that anti-social behaviour towards staff would not be tolerated.

The same production begins a week-long run at the Edinburgh Playhouse later this month, when extra staff will be brought in.

"Most audience members are not even aware it is going on, they are having a wonderful time and have a great interaction with our staff," Mr Marr added.

"The vast majority want to hear the performer singing 'I Will Always Love You', not the person next to them.

"But that flashpoint can happen very quickly for a tiny majority."

Arts critic and former cinema manager Ian Hoey told BBC Radio Scotland's Drivetime with John Beattie that audience behaviour was a "tricky" balance for venues.

"People want to go out to have a good time and you don't like to put restrictions on anyone," he said.

"But you have got to consider other people next to you have also spent a lot of money and are looking forward to a night out."

Some shows, for example the Rocky Horror Picture Show, are designed to be "rowdy" and encourage audience interaction, he noted.

"In other ones, you can join in a bit but do you really have to shout and bawl and scream?" he added.

"It's a living, shared experience but the cast will sense the discomfort of an audience, if for example a group of people surrounding them are getting too excited.

"It's going to be overwhelming and you're not going to enjoy the show. So it's entirely reasonable for theatres to say 'look, just consider other people'."