Grow up, will ya?

A rant...
Okay. So the show we saw was not very good. So it was seven hours long. So some parts of it are downright laughable. So we're enthusiastic college students and we enjoy one another's company. But could we please stop acting like children?
I refer to several people who are a part of the Study Abroad program who seem to have no grasp on theatre etiquette or, really, any manners at all. At one point during tonight's performance of "War and Peace" there was a particularly brash non sequitur that took us all off-guard and sabotaged an already weak production. Now, class, what do we do at a moment like this? Sit still and shut up. Theatre is a communal experience and there is a certain degree of trust that goes into the gathering of audience and performers into an intimate space. A part of that unspoken agreement concerns your bridling of all obnoxious reactions. I was biting down on my hand to keep from laughing but a few choice girls who will remain nameless seemed to have no qualms whatsoever with regards to their incessant girly giggles. Heads turned, throats were cleared, and I wished I was with another group. My friend shared my embarrassment as did several others.
The same thing happened in "Richard III." At the emotional climax of an intense and magnificently acted scene between Richard and Elizabeth, Richard pulled her close and, to but it simply, kissed the life out of her. It was incredible and my heart was pumping, my veins flooded with the adrenaline that only comes in the heat of a great theatrical moment such as this. This was interrupted by the groans and giggles of many from our group. I suppose if it's not Giselle and Edward in "Enchanted," we are just not capable of handling a kissing scene. Yes, well, what did you expect? Did you really think the Royal Shakespeare Company was going to come sanitized for your protection? Did you think that theatre, real legitimate theatre, wouldn't ever make you uncomfortable? That's what art is! A disruption! Sometimes it's exceptionally beautiful but sometimes it's exceptionally painful or tragic or uncomfortable...What's important is that it's exceptional! And, oh, it is!
Now, I understand that I don't have the same taste as everyone else and that we don't all share the same interests on this trip (though I wonder what attracted some of these students to the London THEATRE program in the first place), BUT I think we're all mature enough to behave ourselves. Whether it's the utter brilliance of "Richard III" or the lackluster, unending saga that was "War and Peace," we can all be grown-ups about it.