COMMUNICATION: Lobby Signage

[chrrl]

In addition to Stage Managing at my Theatre company I also do some administrative duties, including lobby displays.  We are trying to come up with new lobby signage that is friendly and fun for our patrons, but gets them some live theatre ettiquette at the same time (i.e., don't talk during the show, late seating can't be accomodated, it's really rude to text during a show, actors are using the aisles so please keep them clear, if you leave the theatre you may not be able to reenter, no pictures, etc...).  

Many in our audiences don't seem to know the ettiquette involved in seeing live theatre (it's a big sports town), but we don't want to patronize and lecture them either.  We make announcements in a curtain speech, but want something in the lobby for those that need a visual (and those that got locked out because we can't do late seating...)  We'd like to do something with a bit of a sense of humor.  What do your theatres do?  Or do people just know how to behave other places?

[cprted]

People don't really read signs, so I think anything beyond the standard small sign about cell phones and food/drinks in the theatre beside the house doors would probably be wasted.  It is fairly common to see a blurb on theatre/concert etiquette in the program. 

[SMrose]

cprted is right: too many signs will be a waste.
Are some (or most) of the patrons that attend shows on the theatre's mailing list?  Most theatres I've worked with have a quarterly newsletter that goes out---perhaps that's a place for a gentle reminder about audience etiquette where you can go over more than the basics that cprted mentioned.

[sasquatch_223]

I went to a production of Seussical a few months ago, and the signs in the lobby were very visual.  The theatre company wanted it lightly humorous; the signs said things like "The jungle animals do not like texting," "Zebras are shy.  No cameras please," etc.  I think this was pretty effective, because when people saw the bright illustrations, they'd pause to read the rules, and maybe have a little laugh. 

[geoffsm]

People don't really read signs, so I think anything beyond the standard small sign about cell phones and food/drinks in the theatre beside the house doors would probably be wasted.  It is fairly common to see a blurb on theatre/concert etiquette in the program. 

Agreed.  I worked as an amusement park ride operator for 3 years, trust me...people don't read signs.  Even when their safety is a stake.  Although it doesn't hurt to have a sign to point to when a cranky patron is in your face.  A small but fun sign couldn't hurt if you feel it is necessary.

[centaura]

I agree with geoffsm - I too was an amusement park rider operator and there is no way that you can force the general public to read a sign, or follow what the sign says.  And no way to get the public to care about their own health let alone etiquette.  I had pregnant women scream at me for stopping them from getting on a ride that would seriously harm their unborn babies.  Cute graphics and light humor are useful - but the only folks who will be reading your signs are the folks who would behave anyway.  Preshow speeches are the only way to really get the message out to everyone, though folks will always assume that what you're asking is only for everyone else; their reason to text, talk, etc. is good enough to bend the rules for.  Though the person who said that having a sign to point to when you've locked someone out is helpful, though the person is still not going to accept that.

-Centaura

[Srlaupan]

When it comes to not being able to accommodate late seating I found the best way to do that is on the ticket...because how are they supposed to be held responsible for knowing that late seating isn't possible if the sign is at the theatre doors that they don't get to until 5 minutes after curtain? I worked in a box office at a PAC and we'd hand out a slip of paper stating the ballet's policy with every sale. We could accommodate late seating but only in between songs but for a ballet, that's a long wait. People get really mad about it so we protected ourselves by printing it on the ticket or handing out that slip of paper.

[ManageThis]

We normally accomodate late sitting up until the end of the overture in musicals, or during the first break of a straight play. However, we recently did Beauty and the Beast, and sold out every show. It is printed on the tickets and signage in the lobby that if you do not pick up your unpaid, reserved ticket by show time, we have the right to sell your ticket to another patron. We had wait lists of up to 100 people one night, so we pushed that time to 5 minutes before the show. This was rarely a problem, thankfully, except for one night that really stood out in my mind. As front of house manager, I was responsible for filling seats and then turning away people we could fit. This night, however, we had a patron show up with his young daughter 45 minutes late to the show.  He came to the box office where the ushers and I were waiting for intermission, and demanded that he be given his ticket and be seated. We tried to explain to him that his extreme tardiness unfortunately meant that his ticket was resold due to policy and that we can't seat anyone that late into the show. He proceed to become very angry with us, and told us that we were ruining his daughter's birthday.

What could you say? We have sign-age and tickets explaining our policy, but I feel that even if we had a billboard outside that said we will not seat you if you are late, this guy would have still argued with us. Signs are a great way to protect yourself, but seem to me utterly ineffective for the people it was meant for like Centuara was saying.