An evening at the Proms nearly turned into an evening of brawls at the Royal Albert Hall after a confrontation reportedly broke out over noisy snacks.
A performance of Dialogues des Carmélites by Francis Poulenc was blighted by a row which erupted between audience members on Monday evening.
The commotion was said to have begun when a man began kicking the seat in front of him and made remarks about two people loudly eating popcorn.
Classical music critic and novelist Jessica Duchen told The Times: “At the end of the row was a pair of American tourists who were munching on popcorn.
“I couldn’t hear or smell it but behind them was a guy who was unbelievably abusive to them. We thought he might pull a knife on them.”
The arguing parties were reportedly moved away from one another during the half-time interval.
Another concert-goer wrote on Facebook: “WTF is the Royal Albert Hall doing selling POPCORN during the Proms? Involved in a near fight at one tonight. Ruined the first half of a superlative evening.”
Popcorn has been sold at the Royal Albert Hall since 2014, with Ms Duchen saying that she had previously asked another individual to stop eating it on the first night of the Proms in July.
The BBC-organised classical music festival is held every summer from mid-July to mid-September and was first organised in 1895.
Following the incident, James Ainscough, chief executive of the Royal Albert Hall, told The Times: “We’ve sold small packets of popcorn, along with crisps and sweets, in our bars since 2014 without protest.
“There were some words exchanged between two audience members at a Prom on Monday, and both parties then asked to move seats, which was arranged, but the incident seems to have been blown out of proportion on social media.
“Different people enjoy different shows in different ways, so we always hope audience members will be considerate of those around them and polite when they speak to each other. We will continue to monitor the situation as we want everyone to enjoy this amazing Proms season to the utmost.”
