Theatres and the celebrity factor

Many years ago, my family and I went to a performance of Pagnol's La femme du boulanger (The baker's wife), starring Michel Galabru, one of the greats of French stage and screen - a very enjoyable occasion marred only by the spontaneous applause which greeted Galabru's first appearance. It was the same thing last month, the audience going into raptures to welcome Pierre Arditi, Evelyne Bouix and whoever was playing Sybil in Private lives.

Until tonight I thought it was a uniquely French phenomenon, practised by audiences who think nothing of disrupting the flow of a performance just because they have recognised the star before he or she has uttered so much as one word. Thank heavens Rik Mayall (playing the lead in The new statesman) is a master of comic timing - though that didn't stop me from glaring at the woman two rows in front of me who whooped the moment he bounded through the door.

I've noticed the same thing with audiences on American sitcoms. Never mind the gross sentimentality of the series finale of Friends, what spoiled it for me were the endless cheers as the Ross/Rachel storyline was finally wrapped, about five series too late. On a similar note, audience involvement in the American version of Whose line is it anyway?, in my opinion, utterly ruined a fine programme, rendering much of the improvised comedy inaudible.

It brings nothing whatsoever to the performance and, at worst, there's a chance of the actors losing their stride, so please, just let them get on with it. Save your applause for the end.