Normally when you see a play, there are stern reminders to “Turn your phone off!”
Ignore at your peril. That annoying @$$hole who thinks he’s more important than everyone else not only leaves his phone ringer on… but even answers a call while others shoot visual daggers at the perpetrator.
And photos? Often also a strict ‘no no’ with ushers rushing to admonish stealth photographers from the audience.
However the approach at a recent musical on the life of Gandhi went against such warnings.
Instead their stance was “We welcome your taking pictures… just as a courtesy to the actors and audience, please no flash and keep your phone on silent.”
Transforming the taboo into a viral marketing campaign.
Now, while my photos may be crap, I did indeed snap a few… hence this one makes it into this week’s Sunday Snaps!
What do you think about taking photographs or videos of live performances? Artist infringement or an optimal way to advertise?
Related ‘Sunday Snaps’ posts:
Everyday Asia 
I love the idea! As long as it doesn’t disturb other people in the audience (or the actors), why not? The play and actors can only benefit from having happy punters doing some free advertising for them 🙂
When done appropriately, I also see it as being a positive thing! 🙂
I remember the days when working as a sound engineer you would look down from the stage at the audience and see a sea of the twinkling flames of lighters being held in the air in appreciation of the band. Nowadays you see a sea of mobile phones, flashes twinkling as the audience views the performance through their miniature screens, all in a narcissistic hope that their instagram posts or YouTube uploads of the gig will get the most likes and shares. This is a sad thing.
I think there is a big difference between taking a snap or two or short clip of your favorite song for future nostalgia and the above use for mobile phones. I can see why phones are banned in a lot of places. I can also see how this ban is unfair for courteous users of phone-cameras.
As usual the solution to the problem is not a ban, but education -how futile this is in the age of the selfie I’m not sure!
Ah… those innocuous twinkling flames… once upon a time…
Can appreciate your distinction and nice to have a nudge in the direction of welcoming courteous use…