The Stage

Actors push for mobile phone blocks in theatres

Published Tuesday 23 May 2006 at 13:35 by Alistair Smith

Performers will lobby government for a change of law so that mobile phones can be electronically blocked from working in theatres.

While not illegal in some other countries, at present managements in the UK are not allowed to screen their auditoria from mobile signals and this has led to a number of high profile incidents in which actors have been interrupted by ringtones during performances.

Last year, Richard Griffiths was disturbed on three occasions during a production of Heroes at the Wyndham’s Theatre, eventually asking the lady whose phone was ringing to leave the theatre and adding: “Is that it, or will it be ringing some more? The 750 people here would be fully justified in suing you for ruining their afternoon.” He had also, in 2004, asked an audience member at a performance of The History Boys to leave the National Theatre when the offender’s mobile phone had rung.

A motion was passed almost unanimously at Equity’s ARC saying the union should lobby government to allow electronic devises to be used in theatres to block signals and, if the law is introduced, then lobby theatre managers to put the equipment in place as soon as it becomes legal.

Proposing the motion on behalf of the Theatre Directors’ Committee, John Carnegie added: “Mobile phones and theatres don’t really mix, because theatre is about people’s attention… most people disrupt the performance, not intentionally but just through forgetting.” He explained that the technology would not interfere with theatres’ own intercom systems and that emergency service personnel who wished to attend the theatre while on call would still be contactable via pagers, which would not be blocked by the new system.