If truth be known, I’m not much of a fan of theatre. My mind soon wanders to the mechanics of the stage lighting or to pondering how I am going to sit through a three hour performance with so little leg room. My wife, however, enjoys all the performing arts and accepted with glee the opportunity to accompany a neighbour with young children to this year’s Christmas play at the Birmingham Rep – an adaptation of the children’s classic, The Secret Garden. Both of us were happy. I was left at home to read my philosophy book and she set off with a spring in her step for a night of nostalgia.
I had cast aside my book and was watching Newsnight by the time she returned. My casual “Have you had a good time dear?” was met by an outpouring of pent up frustration that clearly meant I could not nod benignly and simultaneously carry on watching. She was not to be ignored! Turning down the sound I listened to her ranting on. “The play was fine. The scenery was amazing. The acting was good. It was the audience. I couldn’t believe it. They just didn’t stop eating! I expected lots of loud whispers and fidgeting children and the occasional interruption as little ones were taken out to the toilet, but I did not expect to witness so many people eating all the way through the performance.” Apparently there was one family with a morbidly obese child (the parents were slim) who had given their little girl a family size bag of crisps. “Crisps in the theatre – you can imagine the noise not just of the munching but of her little fist going in and out of the packet” grumbled my wife. Then there was the family who had brought in a shopping bag full of samosas and chomped their way through those, just along the row from another family who were unwrapping toffee sweets throughout the entire performance.
I hope most people who read this blog will have discovered that I am very sympathetic to the plight of overweight and obese people because I understand that some people do have a much harder time trying to manage their weight than others. Their genetic make-up is stacked against them. However, good behaviour in public has nothing to do with genetics. Since when did constant eating become a feature of a night out at the theatre? It most certainly was not commonplace “in my day”. My wife remembers trips to the pantomime when younger and remarks that this annual outing was anticipated with excitement for weeks. She remembers dressing up in her best party dress and wearing shiny black patent shoes with buckles and being utterly enchanted by the magical scenery and costumes on stage. She also remembers that another of the wonderful treats of this special night out was being allowed to go down to the front of the stalls by herself to queue up for a small tub of ice cream.
Eating is a learned behaviour. Unlike many health professionals I really don’t have a problem with children eating crisps and sweets and drinking coca cola in moderation (and no, I’m not paid by any food manufacturers to say this). However, I do strongly believe that children need to be taught to acquire good eating habits. They need to learn from their parents there are some venues where it is not appropriate to eat. During the performance at a theatre is one of them.
Dr David Ashton
1st December 2010
