Tempest in the stalls as baby disrupts Kenneth Branagh RSC performance

Audience members said baby’s cooing and gurgling ruined Branagh’s return to the RSC after 30 years, with some seeking refunds

Boatswain! The opening scene of Shakespeare’s seminal play The Tempest, in which Prospero conjures up a violent storm to shipwreck his treacherous brother, is enough to wake up anyone – let alone a baby.

Audience members at a matinee performance of the Royal Shakespeare Company’s production, starring Kenneth Branagh as Prospero, complained after a baby gurgled and cooed its way throughout the entire first half.

The mother and baby were reportedly asked not to return for the second part of the performance after audience members at the RSC’s Stratford-upon-Avon theatre asked for refunds.

“There was a young woman with a baby in the audience – and it mithered all the way through the first act,” ticketholder Sian Morgan told the Daily Mail. “Thank goodness there was never any actual screaming or crying, but it was gurgling and cooing and chirping very loudly throughout. It never let up.”

Morgan added the child appeared to wake up during the opening scene. “Theatre audiences generally are very tolerant and progressive, but it was ruining it for everyone as it made it so hard to concentrate – and by the end people were audibly tutting and turning around to show their displeasure,” she said.

Morgan said there were “queues of people lining up to complain” at ticket desks, while others asked for refunds. The mother and baby were asked not to return for the second part and were given the option to watch the remainder of the show from TV monitors in the theatre’s cafe.

Another audience member said their group had made a six-hour round trip and paid £400 to attend the performance, which had been “completely ruined” by the disturbance.

“No one wanted to be mean to a young mother, but it was simply extraordinary that she seemed unable to read the room and to take the baby outside when it began being noisy,” they said.

Among those in the audience was also former home secretary David Blunkett, who is blind and relies on hearing. “I said to the person sitting next to me: ‘I’m very tolerant but I’m not sure the baby’s getting anything out of this,’” he said.

The production of The Tempest marks Branagh’s return to the RSC for the first time in 30 years. Tickets, which cost up to £112, sold out within hours of going on sale last year.

The RSC’s guidance says that babes-in-arms can be admitted to all performances, but if the child is disturbing others an adult “may need to watch the show from the screen outside the auditorium with the baby”.

Adults with young children are encouraged to instead attend a “chilled performance”, which “takes a more casual approach to noise and movement in the auditorium”.

Theatre etiquette has been in the spotlight recently after Rosamund Pike called out an audience member for texting during a pivotal scene of Inter Alia.