As a general rule, Fringers are more considerate the movie-goers about turning off their phones. Through 34 shows this year, I did not encounter a single phone attack—until last night.

I can understand how you might forget to turn off your phone; it’s understandable but not acceptable. Before every show, a public message comes on instructing you to turn off your phones. If you’re a new-comer, you’d hear the message like a warning from the Emergency Broadcast Channel. If you’re a veteran, the message might fly by you like the seat belt instructions on a plane. Ok, but as a veteran, you should already know better—your phone should be off.

When they say off, they mean OFF, not silent or vibrate. Guess what? When your phone vibrates, everyone around you can hear it. It’s not like you can answer or check anyhow, so what’s the point of leaving it on vibrate? If your phone vibrates during a show, you’re rude.

For those of you who do check, you may as well take a flashlight and shine it at people’s faces. Everyone within a 10 metre radius can see the glow emanating from your phone. If you’re looking at your phone in the middle of a performance, you’re a jerk.

If you leave your phone on, ringer and all, you’re an asshole. That’s what we got last night. During what was supposed to be an emotional moment, the phone chimed, distracting the entire audience. Worse, she made little effort to shut the thing off, haphazardly and casually reaching down. She did not reach into her purse until the third ring and it was six full chimes before she silenced it.

She destroyed the mood for everyone. Bravo for the performers who continued uninterrupted and unfazed, but for the rest of us, we missed a solid minute of solemn dialogue.

After the show, during acknowledgements, we discover that the phone offender is a Fringe Actor. That makes you an effing asshole. Imagine for a second if someone did that to you at your show. That was a disgrace.

Yes, I’m calling you out, Actor from The Writing on the Stall. You should be ashamed of yourself.

Ray Yuen