Seattle Theater: Smartphone Ban Dropped By 2014

Movie theaters and entertainment venues have long banned the use of smartphones during performances.

But now one venue just outside Seattle is reversing that etiquette by welcoming cellphone and camera use in the theater, according to The New York Times.

With the newly constructed 2,000 seat theater set to open in 2014, the move is intended to attract younger audiences by cultivating a digital-friendly environment where people can update Facebook and send text messages and tweets throughout the performance.

"This is the wave of the future for the people we worry about attracting," John Haynes, the theater's executive director, said in an interview with The New York Times.

"Simply forbidding it and embarrassing people is not the way to go. So we are wiring the building in anticipation of finding ways to make it work over time."

But what Haynes regards as an inclusive digital policy stands in stark contrast to a long history of audiences being asked to give performers their full attention.

Jane Moss, who heads up programming at the Lincoln Center is one artistic director who wants to hold on to that tradition.

Frustrated by digital addiction interrupting the way society experiences art, Moss created The White Light Festival, the classical music showcase designed to help free audiences from the distraction of technology.

"Somebody is going to have to explain to me why you go into a performance at 8 and the first half is over in 45 minutes and you have to check your cellphone again," Moss told The Huffington Post's Amy Lee last month. "People are less skilled at sitting through a Beethoven symphony with their attention completely on it."

And it's not just theater directors who are likely to be annoyed by smartphone use in the theater.

Just last week, a man allegedly tried to choke a fellow audience member after his phone rang continuously during a movie, Seattle's KING 5 News reported.

Comments

[Nopinky]

12:12 PM on 12/02/2011

This is why I shy away from spending the inordinate amounts of money necessary to see movies. Because people (especially teens) seem to think their cell phones are an inseparable part of their bodies and they can't be turned off EVER! It's not just the unnecessary and vacuous non-conversations, it's the disruptive lights. There's a reason theaters are darkened kids - you're welcome to leave if you're so sure the universe can't continue without your instantaneous and constant input. I will never understand why a live theater with live performers is willing to indulge this distracting and disrespectful nonsense.

[Mrsbean54]

10:26 AM on 12/02/2011

If a movie theater needs to allow cell phone use during the movie to attract people, they're doing something wrong.

[ArtCarnage]

05:22 PM on 12/01/2011

Being rude, boorish, and obnoxious is the wave of the future? Count me out.

[KateB21]

08:57 AM on 12/02/2011

Agreed. It's obviously too much to ask for kids and young adults not to use their phones for 2 hours in a theatre.

[Jennypie]

01:02 PM on 12/01/2011

Don't young people ever tire of the constant chatter? Self-clarity must be hard to come by with so much extraneous information coming in ALL the time. If this is the wave of the future for theaters, I think I'll pass.

[Annie Snyder]

11:48 AM on 12/01/2011

No wonder theaters are always complaining about declining revenues, despite the astronomical price of refreshements. I've stopped going to the theaters and now wait for movies to come out on Blu Ray and watch on my nice home theater system. I guess I'm a fuddy duddy, but I remember when theaters used to have ushers to deal with people who disrupted the theater performances for others. Now, not only has disruptive behavior stopped being dealt with, it is going to be encouraged. Well, no problem, theater owners, I'll just skip giving you your cut. I can buy a movie for less than you want for subjecting me to other people's boorish behavior.

[cybolt]

01:32 AM on 12/01/2011

I'd like to think the potential for piracy would prompt the film companies to "discourage" such allowances.

[signgrrl]

11:30 AM on 12/01/2011

you would THINK so . . ..

[MinnLakeGuy]

11:41 PM on 11/30/2011

As someone who regularly appears on stage in community theater productions, I can attest that people talking on cell phones during a live theatrical performance is way beyond annoying. We've just spent 4, 5, even 6 evenings a week for the last 6 to 8 weeks rehearsing in order to present the best, most compelling, most entertaining show we can stage. We work hard to develop and present believable characters in whom the audience can relate and to have a production the audience will find entertaining and in which they can become emotionally involved. It takes only one individual, during a performance, to answer their cell phone (with a loud ringtone, I might add) AND, to speak in a normal, conversational voice, to trash what we've worked to create. Oh, did I mention that is exactly what happened to us in our last production just a few weeks ago? It completely distracts us, the performers, as we now have to rebuild the emotional bond with the audience. It distracts and annoys 300 other theater patrons who are looking for a good evenings entertainment and, it should be pointed out, have spent a nice chunk of change on theater tickets. If it happens again and I happen to be on stage, I will literally stop the performance until the person either completes their call or finishes their call in the hallway outside the theater proper. Sooo, can you tell I'm a little worked up about this?

[DirectProf]

11:26 PM on 11/30/2011

I detest when people call going to the movies going to the "theater." The "theater" is a place where plays are performed. The cinema, or the movies, are where motion pictures are shown.

Furthermore, as a 43 year old, this would just keep me from going to said cinema, so I guess they'll gain some and lose some. I wouldn't tolerate it someone on their phone during a movie (or a play, for that matter).

[cybolt]

01:30 AM on 12/01/2011

No dictionary supports your narrow definition of theater. Try any, including Webster's.

[DirectProf]

06:18 PM on 12/04/2011

"Insert Rhett Butler's famous quote to Scarlett O'Hara here ..."

[carnivaluv]

10:15 PM on 11/30/2011

Instead of movies, the theatre needs to just add tons of video games and play laser shows on the screen. The movie isn't going to be watched or heard if everyone is on the phone anyway. I guess they really want a teen hangout instead of a theatre.

[Bascoda]

09:38 PM on 11/30/2011

Attract the younger, alienate the older. Ya pays your money and you takes your chances. The theater I walk into that allows this is the last pay-to-get-in theater I ever attend. I will take my patronage and my money elsewhere.

[signgrrl]

11:32 AM on 12/01/2011

right there with ya !!

[Gennaphyr]

06:38 PM on 11/30/2011

I love going to the theater. I'm 48 and I'm usually one of the youngest in the audience. I've noticed specials lately for $20 tickets if you're under 30. The truth is that theater goers (at least here in San Diego) are older and if they want to stay in business they need to come up wih ways to attract younger people. I don't like this idea, however another person on this thread suggested they come up with a "less bright" display, I could see that as a better option.
As much as I hate the idea of cell phone usage in the theater I hate the idea of not going to the theater even more. If this gets the younger generation to the theater then I'll keep my dirty looks to myself and try not to be annoyed.

[Bascoda]

09:50 PM on 11/30/2011

Good luck with that. I wish you well, but don't care to cooperate. I am old enough to realize that being "unconnected" for a brief period of time isn't the end of the world as we know it. For doctors, emergency responders and others who must be on duty 24/7, there is the silent alarm (vibrate only) option. Your cellphone goes off, you step outside to take the call. For the rest of those who cannot bear to be out of the loop when one of their BFF's expounds on who they think is currently hot - deal with it. Your presence in the theater won't be missed.

[sensimilla]

05:29 PM on 11/30/2011

The age of movies being seen in theatres, and dealing with all the l0sers who cannot or will not follow the rules is over.

My home is my theatre, and the only one who will disrupt the movie is ME! (ok, and my wife... :))

[claire11]

05:27 PM on 11/30/2011

I thought it was common courtesy to turn off your phone during the performance. But then... things have changed so much over the past several years.

It used to bother me a lot when people, while talking with me, constantly check their smartphones. Not any more. It's become a second nature for many people, and what's the point in arguing with nature?

[Bascoda]

09:56 PM on 11/30/2011

"Rage, rage, against the dying of the light. Do not go gentle into that good night"
If you give up the fight for common courtesy, you have allowed the barbarians to win.
If you meekly submit to them, you demean us all.

[Kaleidoscope1]

05:15 PM on 11/30/2011

Idiots.

[Evan Joseph Ringle]

04:32 PM on 11/30/2011

Kids my age are idiots.