Welcome to the Cumberphone Campaign.
Brief Announcements and Signs don’t seem to be doing the trick so far, do they?
The Cumberphone Campaign has been launched to finally and properly address the vexing issue of mobile phones in theatres. It’s got to be more than simply “turn it off” or “no photos”, with varying pre-show announcements and haphazard brave ushering. We need a unified approach across Theatreland, and we need it now. If we in Theatre can harness our collective imagination and creativity to the fullest (something we should be pretty good at), combined with tech savvy and marketing nous, then we can hopefully have a dramatic impact.
“But what, if anything, can be done?” we hear you cry!
Read our Mobiles Manifesto highlights here…
[if you’ve come here from the #Cumberphone About page, you’ll have read some of this introductory preamble already – but if you scroll down (approx. a third of the way, to the next bank of small no-phone logos) – you’ll find quite a bit of new content on who we are, what we’re all about and what our Campaign and Manifesto hopes to achieve…]
Avenue Q have set the bar pretty high with this perfect #Cumberphone video, released on 1st Off-tober 2015!
For further inspiration, check out these brilliant pre-screening “Don’t Talk” shorts from the Alamo Drafthouse cinema chain in the U.S. – Hollywood’s finest doing doing their bit for the cause.
The Society of London Theatres, Equity and The Stage* et al will hopefully get behind the Cumberphone Campaign soon, and we aim to enlist the crucial support of the likes of ATG, Delfont Mackintosh, Really Useful Group, Nimax, STAR and others. And most importantly, all of you – an alliance of theatre lovers and theatre professionals, from actors and ushers to producers and critics, and the all-important theatre-going audience – we must all come together to find a solution. Because we love our phones and we love our theatre – and there’s no reason why we can’t find a way to get them to love each other!
Click here to read our Campaign launch Press Release
* “Great Campaign – sign me up right now!” – Mark Shenton, The Stage
“Tweet, blog, hashtag the sh*t out of this one” – Benedict Cumberbatch
Here’s a couple of things we ought to make clear right from the outset, as we’ll only get one chance to make a first impression:
- We are emphatically not a bunch of huffy Luddite Luvvies – we love our phones, we really do. (You’re most likely reading this on your phone too, right? Well, so long as you’re not doing it during a show, that’s fine by us). We aim to bring together a broad spectrum of theatre-lovers, from the exasperated angry shushers to the laid-back shoulder-shruggers.
- Neither are we a Cumberbatch fan-site (lovely chap though he is), or a parody – although admittedly our very name and our penchant for pre-fixing anything that moves with a “cumber” is perhaps grounds for a raised eyebrow 😉
We will attempt to flesh out our modest proposals further in our Mobiles Manifesto. But we’re not attempting to get elected to anything – we’re merely hoping to gain your interest and win your support. The Manifesto will be a living, breathing document, open to all for fresh ideas and input as the campaign progresses.
One of the greatest challenges Theatres face is that a great many of us simply don’t want to turn our phones off. Ever. We’re not used to it. We’re not at all comfortable with the concept. We have them on in our sleep. We’ll diligently switch it to Airplane or Silent (both not nearly enough, as it turns out – see Stealth Phone page), but turning them off is like amputating a limb. And these challenges are only going to increase with the further proliferation and integration of tech into our very personhood.
Besides, smart phones can take an age to turn off (many mistakes can happen with assuming that you’ve turned your phone off, when it’s still buffering its way through a laborious power-down, ready to abort at the slightest provocation), and even longer to turn back on – with a short interval and the immediacy of craving instant reconnection the moment the curtain goes down (or maybe even the possibility of missing a permitted/encouraged curtain-call photo-op at the end of the show), it should come as no surprise that simply requesting audiences to “turn it off” moments before curtain-up isn’t really working as well as it should.
Enquiries – info@cumberphonecampaign.com
MEDIA – you can email us with your number (and we’ll call you back to arrange interviews). Or better still – for a quicker response – follow us on Twitter @cumberphone and then DM (Direct Message) us to arrange a chat. Thanks.
Find us on Facebook & Instagram too
“We need a big public awareness campaign” – Mark Shenton, The Stage, September 2015
Please Join Us, read the Mobiles Manifesto, and see latest News
You can also get your “Twibbons” (a mini cumberphone logo to add to the corner of your Twitter profile photo to help spread the word) here – http://tinyurl.com/cumbertwibbon
To share any comments, suggestions or ideas, please visit our Supporters page – where you’ll find a comment forum at the bottom.
To make your #cumberphone video message for “The Cumbies” Awards, please visit our Awards page.
Here’s some more info about who we are, who we’re not, and what we’re all about…
We do not claim to have all the answers. Neither can we claim to be the only ones asking the questions. We’re just part of the ensemble, here to help enrich the harmony.
The excellent Theatre Charter was launched in July 2014 – and its founder has been a tireless and fearless champion of promoting better theatre etiquette. We’d urge all of you to read and sign the Charter if it takes your fancy, and follow them on twitter too – a voracious theatre-goer, an avid theatre-lover and a guardian of sanity and decency at the pioneering vanguard of this struggle. We applaud the Charter’s efforts, and the army of 2,000 who have already signed-up – bravo!
The Cumberphone Campaign is somewhat different. Firstly, we’re focusing solely on the issue of mobile phones. Secondly, for us it’s not so much a question of “etiquette” – for many, the very word itself raises hackles (though we of course fully support such a drive to raise standards of behaviour) – but of assisting even the most polite and diligent of theatre-going souls in mastering the art of the phone (e.g. see our Stealth-Phone guide). After all, if even Nicholas Hytner and The Stage’s Mark Shenton and Theatre Charter-backer Terri Paddock’s phones can all go off during a show, then we’re probably facing a struggle against something more than poor etiquette alone.
Above all, we want to make it fun, as we are keenly aware that the Stephen Fry-backed Charter attracted some very unjust flak last summer for being “red-trousered”, “passive-agressive”, “theatre police” etc – sadly par-for-the-course whenever us Theatrefolk have the temerity to advocate for Theatre’s special place in our society.
- We are emphatically not a bunch of “huffy Luddite Luvvies” – we love our phones, we really do. We aim to bring together a broad spectrum of theatre-lovers, from the exasperated angry shushers to the laid-back shoulder-shruggers.
So the Cumberphone Campaign is merely here to lend a cheerful helping hand along the trail that has been blazed by our Chartist friends. Think of us, if you like, as Friends of the Earth to their Greenpeace, or as Professor Brian Cox to their Richard Dawkins.
Our Mobiles Manifesto concentrates on offering some positive steps (some far-fetched, some surely a no-brainer) that we in Theatreland can take towards better addressing this issue collectively.
There’s no panacea, no one solution.
But surely, if we all pull together, we can do better? Because at the moment, the phones are winning – but they’re our phones, so let’s show them who’s boss! They’re always going to go off from time to time no matter what we do, but at the moment we’re just making it far too easy for them. We can’t sniff at them over our pince-nez and hope for the best, but neither should we throw our hands up in the air and simply give up. It’s also understandable that so many of us these days (and that number is only going to increase with the newer generation of theatre-goers and the further proliferation and integration of tech into our very personhood) think selfies and filming and mid-show texting is ok – we’re addicted, aren’t we?
You can even use your phone on the Tube and on airplanes now. The Theatre is one of the few remaining bastions, or rather refuges – and we should aim to more enticingly sell it as such. We should think of it less as a fortress, and more as a spa – regarded not just as a place where you can’t use your phone as you normally would for the other 21 hours of your small-screen-dominated day, but rather a place where we feel we are relieved and grateful not to be able to do so. It should feel less like entering a prison camp, and more like going to your best friend’s wedding or your grandmother’s funeral – where the concern about your phone intruding upon the event is paramount (well, after the joy/sorrow of the important family occasion, naturally).
We’re not anti-phone at all. Far from it – we’re very pro-phone, and so we’d simply like Theatre to catch up a little faster please.
We want Theatre to better embrace technology (no, we’re not advocating for “tweet seats” – an “operatically stupid” idea in the eyes of many) – we want better WiFi; we want more e-ticketing and theatre apps (no, we’re not sponsored by TodayTix); we want more digital programmes and content (NT Backstage is great, and they’re finally getting a proper mobile site up soon too); we want more NT Live and Digital Theatre and the like; and we want theatres to interact with the audience through their phones far better than they do now.
Great efforts are being made to have us buy our interval drinks through ATG’s Ordertorium app (with accompanying all-seats leaflet drop) and via the likes of the Barbican Bars app. So why not make more of an effort to sell us ideas through our phones, rather than just tickets and drinks and programmes? Perhaps, for instance, we’d be more likely to turn our phones off if we were texted a link to a star-studded funny short film (like these) than blared at over a PA system?
Education and a cultural shift will only go so far however. In the West End in particular a huge proportion of the audience are from overseas or out-of-town and often irregular theatre-goers – so no amount of brilliant and ceaseless coverage in the likes of The Stage is going to have much of a direct significant impact on these folk.
So our best option is to do a better job of the pre-show routine. But this isn’t just about the announcements a few moments before curtains-up – however funny or pleading or threatening they may be. From the moment you buy your tickets, there are a number of ‘nudges’ that can be deployed to better prepare theatre-goers. We aim to better institutionalise these processes across the industry – and there’s safety in numbers. No one theatre or production wants to be that awkward, prissy, irascible nerd who won’t stop banging on about mobile phones, do they? But some can certainly blaze a trail.
Places like the Lyric Hammersmith who do so much work with young people should integrate phone-ed into their outreach, productions like the record-sell-outs that are the Barbican’s Hamlet, the Menier’s Funny Girl or the forthcoming Leicester Curve tour of Pixie Lott in Breakfast at Tiffany’s will be able to reach out to fresh parts of the audience, and we hope they embrace that opportunity. Interactive rowdy musicals like Rocky Horror, or smash hits like Mormon, can grab the audience by the figurative throat. And Hangmen at the Royal Court, well, you can see where we’re going with this.
Hampstead and the Almeida, as well as transferring brilliant productions, can also be conduits for innovative phone initiatives too. (Anyone who saw Privacy at the Donmar and who didn’t change their phone’s meta-data-gathering location settings afterwards, raise your hand.) Michael Grandage (with his great pricing initiatives) and Kenneth Branagh (nice trailers by the way) and the new regimes at the National and the Old Vic – let’s see what you’ve got. And as for the exciting new Hytner/Starr theatre – what a golden opportunity to get things right from the outset.
Sorry if this all sounds too London-centric – we just thought we should probably start by shooting the fish in that barrel first. But through the likes of ATG and START – and a dedicated band of touring actors – we hope to spread far and wide. The West End may be the epicentre of the Theatre universe, but – just as the Nicene Creed wasn’t born in Bethlehem – we fully expect some brilliant idea or shining beacon of excellence to emerge from the likes of Chichester Festival, Theatre Royal Bath, the Edinburgh Fringe, or perhaps the Sheffield Crucible with its wealth of experience hosting the ultimate of all hear-a-pin-drop events, Snooker. So it’s not just about London, and it’s not solely about “theatre” – those companies and venues who produce dance, recitals, concerts, gigs, stand-ups – there’s plenty to be learnt and shared across the board and we welcome ideas from all quarters.
Theatre can draw on the most creative, funny and inspiring bunch. Phones are a bit of an issue, aren’t they, and not just at the theatre, so let’s see if we can do something about it then shall we? If not us, then who? If not now, then when?
As for the pre-show announcements – be they films, safety curtain projections, a polite FOH manager or an hilarious cast member – they need, in our view, to be more substantial. They should not be brief reminders or stern threats – they should be an integral part of the theatre-going experience. We need to consider the notion of having them more akin to the old Curtain-Raisers. And not to the detriment of, or distraction from, the main event either – but something positive that can serve to warm up the audience and bring us all together (that band playing before One Man, Two Guvnors being a superb example of how to get everyone properly in the mood). More like a 5-star gourmet amuse-bouche served ‘compliments of the chef’ than a basket of stale bread just plonked down on the table by an underpaid tip-less waiter as they monotonously read from the ‘specials’ board.
That’s not to say, of course, that one size fits all – whether that be technological or theatrical. What works in the Arcola or at The Park isn’t necessarily going to fly in Drury Lane or the Apollo. We get that.
It’s our sincere hope that this campaign can play its small part in bringing us all together to discuss these issues and explore these ideas perhaps a little better and more substantially than we’ve managed to thus far. And crucially, in discussing them, to focus on how to actually implement them and establish industry-wide best practice.
We’ll give it a go anyway. And we hope that you’ll be willing to be part of that conversation with us. At times some of our rhetoric may seem a little too strident or florid for some people’s tastes – but, hey, it’s a campaign after all, and we want it to be fun (dramatic, even, although we’ll try our hardest not too flounce too much), so we hope you’ll forgive us our foibles.
If you’ve come this far, maybe (hopefully) you’re willing to come a little further…
Along the way we’ll do our utmost to always respect the fact that theatres and those running them have a ridiculous amount on their plates – not least the most basic concerns over funding to ensure survival, and the monumental effort it takes just to put on a show – without us adding to their worries. We don’t wish to be a thorn in anyone’s side – but instead a blooming rose. And for those wonderful performers we hope to enlist along the way, we appreciate there are a plethora of other good-causes more worthy of your attention, to say nothing of lines to learn, marks to find and digs to locate.
Most of all we’ll always aim to improve and to be inclusive – all ideas welcome, all contributions valued.
“No matter. Try again. Fail again. Fail Better.” – Samuel Beckett
Lastly, we’d like to point out that we have no official connection to, or endorsement (yet!) from, Benedict Cumberbatch – beyond his sterling and unfailingly polite call to arms (to “Tweet, blog, hashtag the sh*t out of this one”) – we just felt that #cumberphone seemed a fitting and fun epithet with which to kick it all off.
Neither do we have any official connection to any theatre company, production company, publication or organisation. We are merely a small but growing rag-tag band of theatre professionals and theatre-lovers who wish to remain anonymous – we wouldn’t want anyone to be reprimanded or sacked for playing a full-throated part in this campaign, now would we? Or, for that matter, for any disagreements or divergence of opinion about this particular issue to have an impact on our professional or personal relationships with one another.
In any case, it doesn’t really matter who we are personally, for we are all of us – we are you (unless you’re reading this during a show!). As some of us depart the fray – perhaps to go away on tour, trapped in the bowels of a regional theatre dressing room, out of reach of decent WiFi – others will step in to take our place, like a rolling wave of advancing, young, petrified Russian soldiers picking up the rifles of their fallen comrades.
So you can do whatever, and you’re in the Treehouse – there’s no secret knock. You can follow us on Twitter, add a twibbon to your profile, become a Show Ambassador, recruit your friends and colleagues, (recruit your triple-threat enemies too), make a Video or Vine, post a #cumberphone pic on Instagram – and most importantly help spread the word. Like the janitor at NASA who told JFK that his job was to help put a man on the Moon, every little helps.
To share any comments, suggestions or ideas, please visit our Supporters page.
If you’d like to follow us on Twitter than we can exchange DMs, but we hope you’ll understand if (for the most part) we’re not able to engage in much frenetic and detailed to-ing-and-fro-ing in reply to open public tweets – that’ll just drive all our other followers potty – although we’ll happily wear out our “favourite” button in response to anything you might have to say. So please feel free to email or DM – but the best place for open discussion is via the Comments section at the bottom of the Supporters page. Thanks.
Obviously our hope is for such discussions to be focused mainly on the obstacles we face and the solutions we can pursue, rather than just a place to let off steam (though we welcome all your phone-related horror stories of course) – or for that matter a place for you to tell us what a bunch of no-hopers and daydream-believers we are, or something perhaps – ahem – less polite (“Cumberdouches”?). But what the hey, honest intelligent criticism is always invaluable. If the whole idea of this campaign is simply not your cup of tea, or particular brand of vodka, then that’s absolutely fine with us – but we’ve seen Chimerica…. and we all remember what it had to say about internet message boards, don’t we? 😉
We hope you’ll be willing to read our Theatreland Mobiles Manifesto too, once it’s released. We look forward to hearing from and working with you all to help realise our vision. Thanks so much for your time and your interest.
PS – our cousin from Broadway is waiting in the wings too… @LuPonePhone
Hugh Jackman and PattiLuPone showing grace under fire…
The Cumberphone Campaign is not an organisation – it is an idea.
“Never doubt that s small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the [Theatre] world. Indeed, it’s the only thing that ever has.” – Margaret Mead
#cumberphone
The Cumberphone Campaign 