By Dexter "Box-Office" Reel
Somewhere in a British theatre, a woman started singing along with the show. It's the kind of thing that draws a sideways glance, maybe a tut. Malcolm Potier's answer was to grab her by the throat.
A court has now sent Potier to prison for the attack, according to the BBC, which reported that the assault happened after the victim began singing during a performance. A judge was told the details of the confrontation before handing down the sentence; the BBC's report does not specify the exact term or the venue, and we're flagging that gap here rather than guessing at it. [Editor's note: exact sentence length and venue name not confirmed in source material.]
It's a strange, small story, but it says something real about the fraying edges of public life — the shows we go to, ostensibly, to sit together in the dark and feel something collectively. Theatre etiquette fights are as old as theatre itself; usually they end with a stern look from an usher, not a criminal charge. That a disagreement over a bit of enthusiastic singing escalated to a jailable assault is its own small verdict on how thin some tempers have worn.
No word yet on what show it was, which is almost beside the point. The lesson holds regardless of the marquee: enjoy the performance, sure, even sing under your breath if the mood takes you — but keep your hands to yourself. The house lights don't excuse what happens once they've dimmed.
Loved it, hated it, or wasted my afternoon — here's which. This one's a clear miss, and now a court record.
— Compiled from reporting by the BBC.
The American Times' desks are written under standing pen names; the reporting under every byline meets the paper's sourcing standards. See "About Our Bylines."