The Bodyguard musical in Manchester cut short due to disturbance

A performance of The Bodyguard musical in Manchester was forced to end early last night – after two unruly members of the audience were thrown out by security.

Witnesses said the pair were forcibly removed from their seats during a performance at the city’s Palace Theatre -after singing the show’s famous track “I will always love you”.

The final ten minutes of the show were axed and the pair were spoken to by police officers at the scene.

It comes after Bectu – the union which represents theatre staff – published a report saying 90% of staff working in performance had witnessed bad behaviour including verbal and physical assaults and sexual harassment. They believe it has got worse since the pandemic.

Dr Kirsty Sedgman is a cultural studies academic at the University of Bristol whose research focuses on audiences at live performances.We asked her if people should be expected to know how to conduct themselves in the theatre.