Have you ever walked out of a cinema/theatre half way through a show?

Apologies, should have proof read that. Although his shows were notorious for their longevity this one finished at 2am not 2pm. ???

I was on a girls trip to Manchester and we went to see the musical ‘Oh what a circus ‘ starring my teenage crush David Essex. Oh my, we should have lived with our teenage memories of him rather than the almost bald old man on stage. The show was dire and we walked out, but not until after some other people walked out first as we felt too embarrassed to do so.
My husband and I also walked out of a Ken Dodd show before the end. The show had started at 8pm and Ken was still going at midnight with no sign of stopping. I had work the following day so reluctantly we left. I later heard that it went on until 2pm.

I went to see The Exorcist with boyfriend as a teenager. It was too much for me and couldn’t watch anymore. I sat in the foyer and waited for him to come out at the end. Why on earth did I wait!! He turned out to be as bad as the film!

Yes, Lord of the Rings. I was apprehensive about it and quickly realised that it was going to be noisy, full of aggressive fighting, bad dialogue and little resemblance to the books which I loved.
I don't often go to a mainstream film now, especially Hollywood /American ones. I avoided the Philip Pullman, His Dark Materials films because I knew I wouldn't last five minutes.
I've never walked out of a theatre but I don't go often and choose my productions carefully. All is online now anyway of course but the same principles apply for me.

Once, went to see a comedian at a local small theatre - he wasn't going down very well with the audience and his language and jokes became coarser and coarser. I got up and walked out and many other audience members followed me. He was never re-booked

We walked out of a Chekov play, directed by Ingmar Bergman and starred Vanessa Redgrave. We were sitting in the gods, the seats were uncomfortable and it was very hot.

We were at a jazz concert at Snape Maltings at least 25 years ago watching a jazz concert with George Russell who was a renowned pianist, composer and theorist. He had a large band with him, some brought over from the States and some British. They played contemporary jazz. Russell had worked with Miles Davis on some of his earlier recordings and his music was similar to early Miles.

Unfortunately it was advertised as a big band concert and several people turned up expecting to hear something very different. My OH referred to Lawrence Welk at the time. Several of the audience walked out during the first piece, making their displeasure known by slamming their seats and making as much noise as possible. It was mainly men and they were probably around 60 to 70 years old at that time and very rude. Had they read the listings notes they would have realised that it was not quite their thing. As is often the way with Brits, their first reaction is to make their feelings known as forcibly as possible. A bit like Brits trying to speak a foreign language on holiday. Just talk louder.

I loved Am Dram and went to lots of Festivals , one play was so dire we left as soon as there was a pause . We went to the finals night and were amazed to hear they had won several awards ! One mans meat ......

Orlin and I in our teens walked out of Women in Love cos I was embarrassed at the ‘exposure of their dangly bits’ during the fight.
Have seen it since and laughed at myself. The innocence of youth in those days.

Didn’t enjoy “Cats” but stuck it out for the sake of everyone else in the family.
Loved “Les Mis” on stage but hated the film!
Visited the Edinburgh Fringe one year and, of 17 shows attended in five days, we only walked out of one!
Some years ago, I was on stage with the whole cast for the final denouement in “As You Like It” when an audience member on the front row snored loudly! We all struggled to finish the scene without laughing. ?

EvieJ

YES
Mamma Mia!
I found it strange, seeing all those amazing actors singing and dancing.
Think i stayed for about 20 minutes, couldn't do anymore

Ooh I hated mamma Mia too. I must be different to everyone else ??

Kim19

Twice. Once during a film called Shampoo with Julie Christie and ??? Laurence Harvey??? The other was a Japanese flight of fancy. The title currently eludes me. Unbelievably awful but undoubtedly enjoyed by some.

Shampoo - Warren Beatty
Japanese film - was it Kwaidan? Ghost stories.

Murder in the cathedral by T S. Eliot in Stratford. Left at the interval as it was tedious. A friend and I went to see the Greatest Showman on the recommendation of others. Neither of us were enthralled. I thought it was over hyped and still do. I also disliked Branagh's Murder on the Orient express. His interpretation of Poiriot was well dodgy.

YES
Mamma Mia!
I found it strange, seeing all those amazing actors singing and dancing.
Think i stayed for about 20 minutes, couldn't do anymore

The Kenneth Branagh version of "Murder on the Orient Express". I fell asleep half-way through. It was awful, all about himself and hardly let the other actors get a word in. We also walked out of the Ken Dodd show a couple of years before he died. It got to midnight and he was still rambling on, so we crept out, heads down and the theatre was still packed. I saw him in the late 1970's in a holiday camp in Prestatyn when he was on top form, he was so funny and no swearing needed.

We walked out of a Ken Dodd show in the June before he died the following March. A really great Comedian who went on for too long. I admire his tenacity but felt very sad because he should have rested on his reputation.

In the 1970s I walked out of Rollerball an awful film about sport with James Caan. Also walked out of Cabaret on the fifth viewing. I loved that film but the fifth time was just a bit too much.

A couple of years ago we almost walked out of Girl on a Train, I found it a bit tedious but we stayed till the end!

Off topic but also in the 1970s we were evacuated out of a cinema in Leicester Square showing Winnie the Pooh. We left hurriedly and while on the Tube heard an explosion. We learned later it was the IRA trying to kill Edward Heath then PM.

Kate1949

Cats at the theatre. Bloomin awful. Les Miserables at the cinema. Cliff Richard playing Heathcliff. We had to leave as my daughter was upsetting the Cliff fans with her sniggering. I'm not sure what possessed us to go in the first place.

Ooh I hated Les Mis at the cinema. Too ‘in your face’. When everyone clapped at the end I was astonished. I then got a tram home which was crammed with young luvvies all raving about it. Yuk. Have watched it again btw just in case but still hated it.

Yes, Waynes world and the mirror cracked.both less than half hour in.
Both are a cure for insomnia.

Meant to be a ? not a !

Kim19

Twice. Once during a film called Shampoo with Julie Christie and ??? Laurence Harvey??? The other was a Japanese flight of fancy. The title currently eludes me. Unbelievably awful but undoubtedly enjoyed by some.

Was it Warren Beatty in this film!

When we were first married we went to see the film of Canterbury Tales. I was almost 9 ninths pregnant and just managed to squeeze into the seat in the middle of the row.

The film began and we realised this was in fact a film called ‘The Other Canterbury Tales’ which was a sexed up interpretation, we hated it and I had to push my large bump along the full row to get out. As we did so we saw our neighbours ?.

We often laugh about it now and suspect we wouldn’t be at all shocked if we saw it again.

Again, Cats. Dreadful.

Also walked out of Cinderella panto in Guildford because DD1 aged 3 was petrified of Cinderella played by Bonnie Langford.

??

Cats at the theatre. Bloomin awful. Les Miserables at the cinema. Cliff Richard playing Heathcliff. We had to leave as my daughter was upsetting the Cliff fans with her sniggering. I'm not sure what possessed us to go in the first place.

Oh dear Jaffacake! I really don’t know what I would have done. Aren’t children lovely!