Why can’t you take smartphone photos in a theatre? (guest blog)

This article by LSE student Vaios Papanagnou Actor David Cromer walks into the stalls of the Almeida theatre with one hand raised way above his head, holding a mobile phone. He comes in from the audience entrance and looks like he could too be sitting next to us, a man in his late 40s, casually dressed. He stands right in front of the first row of seats, showing the phone to the audience without speaking. We understand that this is the time for us to silence our own phones. He then says “This play is called Our Town. It was written by Thornton Wilder; directed by David Cromer” and, as he recites the first lines from the play he also acts in as the narrating Stage Manager, he still holds the phone in his hands.