Edinburgh Playhouse director Colin Marr says 'enough is enough' after staff punched, spat on and pushed

Staff at Edinburgh Playhouse have been physically and verbally assaulted by theatre-goers in recent weeks.

An Edinburgh Playhouse boss has hit back at abusive audience members, after staff were punched, pushed and spat on. Colin Marr, Theatre Director at the Playhouse, said the behaviour was becoming “far too regular an occurrence”. In a social media statement, he said: "Enough is enough! I am disgusted and angry with the unacceptable audience behaviour that my team has had to endure in recent weeks.”

The theatre director claimed his staff have been verbally and physically assaulted while trying to do their job. Mr Marr said: “Two weeks ago one of my staff was punched. This week one of them was pushed and spat on.”

He continued: “There is a very small minority of people who come to our theatre and choose to sing, dance and talk throughout the show in a manner that disturbs others. They either don’t know, or don’t care, how much this spoils their fellow audience members’ experience. When one of my team asks them politely to stop they become verbally abusive and, in some cases, physical. This is not acceptable.”

Edinburgh Playhouse Director Colin Marr has said 'enough is enough' after he claims staff have been punched and spat at during shows

Mr Marr urged audiences to behave, and wrote: “I am asking that when you come to our venue that you are considerate towards your fellow audience members and our members of staff so that we can all enjoy the wonderful entertainment on the stage.” However, the theatre director also threatened misbehaving customers of the potential consequences. He said: “Please be in no doubt that if you are abusive towards our staff you will be asked to leave, and if you are threatening, intimidating or physically abusive we will call the police and you will be banned from our theatre and all ATG Venues.”

Mr Marr said he believes the problem is not isolated to Edinburgh Playhouse – but is a widespread issue occurring in venues across the UK