TV & Showbiz
Jason Manford blasts theatre-goers after showing the ‘shocking’ state of litter on the Opera House floor
He did pose the question of whether it should be the audience or the staff's responsibility, but the answer was pretty much unanimous.
Danny Jones -
4th December 2023 
Comedian and performer Jason Manford has criticised theatre-goers for leaving the floor of one of Manchester’s most beloved venues covered in litter and in a “shocking” state following one of his recent performances.
Currently part of the ongoing Jack and the Beanstalk pantomime run, Manford shared a social media post revealing the amount of rubbish left on the floor of the Manchester Opera House following the cast’s show to the general public.
Opening the video by stating, “Look at the bloody tip people leave”, the Salford-born stand-up, singer, actor and presenter asked, “Why do people do this?”
Posting the short clip on Instagram along with the caption, “What’s your take on litter inside a theatre? Is it [the] audience or staff’s responsibility? What d’ya reckon?”, the video itself has comments turned off but has already sparked plenty of discussion online.
The 42-year-old went on to urge people attending the show, or any theatre production for that matter to clean up after themselves, noting that there was rubbish of some form on “every single row”.
Manford, who is starring as Jack, labelled the behaviour unbelievable and argued, “You wouldn’t treat you’re own home like that, would you?”
Citing that his days working front-of-house in cinemas might have coloured his opinion on the matter, he said it takes very little effort to simply pick up your refuse and find the nearest bin on the way out and the majority of people reacting online are in overwhelming agreement.
One commenter underneath his post on X said, “People’s responsibility. Why can’t people just do the right thing and take their litter home with them ?? Or use a bin nearby??”, while most agreed at the very least that aside from accidental spillages, it’s just “common courtesy”.
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Another person went so far as to say: “People are disgusting. Personally, I’d ban food and drink in theatres and cinemas.
“It totally ruins the experience for me, listening to people chomping and slurping their way through the performance.”
Jason’s turn in Jack and The Beanstalk began on Thursday and is set to run until the end of the year — here’s hoping this public callout will mean the theatre staff have less mess to clean up going forward.
It isn’t Manford’s only big stage production here in Manchester city centre either, as the local legend is also hosting The Big Night of Musicals in 2024.
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Featured Images — Jason Manford (via Instagram)
