London in the 19th century had a peculiar law that allowed plays to be performed at only two theaters in the city. That was good for the owners of those two theaters, but in 1808, Covent Garden Theater burned down. When it was finally rebuilt, the other theater also burned. Those seeking entertainment had little choice of business to patronize. Actor John Kemble was also the manager of the Covent Garden Theater, and took the brunt of the audience’s anger when tickets to the newly-rebuilt theater were hiked 15% in price. One would think that patrons would protest by boycotting the plays, but instead, they paid for tickets and then disrupted the shows. Audience reaction and even participation was expected in those days, but Kemble would be pelted with rotten tomatoes and other produce while performing, over the new price. It got so bad that the theater closed for a few days, but that didn’t help.
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The crowd thus continued their antics when the theater opened back up, with newspapers as far as Edinburgh regularly reporting on the nightly tumult at the Covent Garden Theater. People across the nation quickly took sides, with those wanting the prices reversed referring to themselves as “OPs”, and those who were on the side of the theater owners called “NPs”.
Beyond making a ruckus at the shows, protesters also reportedly regularly gathered outside of Kemble’s home at all hours chanting for “original prices”, including coming up with a variety of unflattering songs illustrating what they thought of Kemble and his new prices.
Back in the theater, along with plastering it in banners and posters protesting the price change, the theater denizens began to sneak even more ridiculous things into performances including farm animals, flocks of pigeons they’d release inside the building, giant distracting hats and even a coffin with a banner stating in part “Here lies the body of the new price…”
Protesters additionally began turning up to performances in outlandish costumes including full drag, as well as organizing races and mock fights in the pit- in all cases, attempting to either drown out anything the actors were doing on stage or otherwise distract from it.
Doesn’t that sound like fun? Read the story of the Covent Garden Theater riots at Today I Found Out. There’s also an extended coda explaining what happened to the tradition of audience participation.
Source: neatorama