Theatres urged to limit alcohol sales as survey reveals violence towards ushers

Theatres are being urged to limit how much alcohol is served to audiences during a show, after a survey revealed more than three quarters of ushers have experienced violence, aggression or harassment from theatregoers in the past year.

Union BECTU, which has published the statistic, has partly laid the blame for the number of reported incidents on "at-seat alcohol, with the union urging theatres to consider whether there should be a limit on how much audiences are allowed to drink while watching a show.

The finding is revealed in the results of BECTU’s Big Survey, which collected responses from more than 5,000 creative workers.

Of those working in theatre and live events (1,051), about a third (31%) said they had personally experienced antisocial behaviour, violence, aggression or harassment in the past year, including 29% working in theatres specifically.

When broken down by front-of-house staff, 77% said they had experienced such behaviour in the past year.

Meanwhile, a majority of respondents across front-of-house, technical, backstage and admin roles said things had become worse over the past five years.

The results showed that 71% of theatre workers were more likely to say this.
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BECTU head Philippa Childs said: "This summer, hundreds of thousands of people will have been or be heading to the theatre or to live events and most will have a great time. Unfortunately, our research shows that increasing numbers of them will behave badly, treating staff like dirt and subjecting them to unacceptable abuse."

She added: "It is doubly disappointing that, two years after we last highlighted the issue, very little seems to have changed. Across the country, people are facing regular aggression and abuse simply for carrying out their jobs. This is wholly unacceptable and we urge venues and industry bodies to commit to working with us to tackle this endemic issue.

"Everyone has the right to a safe and respectful workplace and with the sector facing a chronic skills shortage, our findings should sound alarm bells. We are calling on theatres to have a zero-tolerance approach to bad behaviour and ensure security is sufficient to deal with the problem."

Childs said "the advent of at-seat alcohol may also be playing a part".

"We urge theatres to look at whether a reasonable limit on these sales would have an impact so that people can continue to have a good time without things going too far," she said.

In 2023, the union revealed how front-of-house staff had experienced racial slurs, public urination and physical assaults, with half considering leaving the industry as a result.

As a result, the union launched its Safer Theatres Charter, calling on venue management to take a zero-tolerance approach to antisocial behaviour.

In 2023, police were called to Curve in Leicester following reports that a member of staff had been assaulted.

In the same year, a performance of The Bodyguard was unable to continue after disruptive audience members resulted in the police being called.