What would make you walk out of a show?

by Chris Peterson, OnStage Blog Founder

The other day, Matthew Teague Miller (better known as @musicaltheatreprof on TikTok) posted a video where he asked what it would take for someone to walk out of a theatre in the middle of a show.

To be clear, I’ve never done it. That’s not to say I haven’t wanted to(cough cough ‘Promises Promises’ 2010 revival cough cough), but either through the fact that I paid a relatively large amount of money for my ticket or my belief that it might get better as the show goes on, I always stay in my seat until the final curtain call.

At the same time, I've heard stories from people on why they've chosen to leave a show after it's started. Some of them I agree with and some of them I don't. But to be clear, there isn’t a golden rule regarding the subject. I've seen some people say that intermission is the time you should leave if you don't like the show; again, I don't think this is a rule written in stone.

But there are valid reasons why someone may leave a show after it starts, and I don't think those reasons are discussed enough.

One is if there is content in the show that may cause distress and the theatre hasn’t done the proper content warnings for audience members. If the show's content makes someone uncomfortable, such as excessive violence, explicit content, or triggering themes, they may leave, which is completely acceptable.

I’ve seen technical difficulties such as major sound, lighting, or set malfunctions disrupt a performance so much that it was enough for audience members to leave. I think that’s fine too.

Do I think that someone is justified leaving a show if they find the content offensive? Sure, but I would much rather them stay to potentially learn why they might feel it's offensive and perhaps learn a new perspective on the subject matter.

At the same time, if they're going to sit there and complain, I'd rather they leave.

And then, of course, if there are issues that are causing audience members distress, and the theater staff is unwilling to accommodate them, I'm more than fine with someone leaving the show. For instance, I once attended a performance of the original production of Spamalot on Broadway. Sitting behind me were two rows of what had to be middle school students on a field trip to see the show.

These students were not only disruptive during the entire first act but also brought bags of lunches with them into the theater and constantly unwrapped sandwiches and squeezed Capri Suns, which can be incredibly disruptive.

I saw multiple audience members who had the misfortune of sitting in front of these students go up to ushers and beg them to have their seats changed for the second act. At that point, the show was a couple weeks from closing, and most of the balcony was open, yet these ushers refused the requests of these patrons; I saw several of them not return after intermission. I was completely okay with that, even though I decided to brave it and stay for it too.

To be clear, the students behaved better after intermission.

And then, of course, it depends on how someone decides to leave a show. If someone were to leave the show in the middle of an act, I would hope they would do it discreetly without disrupting the performance or any audience member trying to enjoy it. Anyone who makes a display about leaving the theater because they don't like what's being performed has no business coming to the theater in the first place.

But as we discussed, there are multiple reasons why it is completely justified to leave a show early.

But if not for those reasons, I would encourage someone to stay throughout the show because it might get better.