I used to think booing was healthy. Now it’s out of control | Martin Kettle

The threshold has fallen so low that performers who live every day with fear of failure are being booed by audiences for no good reason

In the 1980s, I wrote an article in the Guardian that began: “What’s wrong with booing at the opera, for goodness sake?” My view back then was that booing was unpleasant but at least it showed people cared. Why should British audiences feel they had to sit meekly and applaud all the time, whatever was served up to them? They shouldn’t have to take what they don’t like. And I concluded: “We need more booing in Britain, not less.”

Thirty years on, my wish has largely come true, to an extent that was hard to foresee back then, and not just in the opera house. We now have much more booing in Britain. Indeed, in some situations booing has almost become routine. But something else has changed too. I have got what I wished for – only now I don’t like it.

Related: Hurray for booing | Catherine Bennett

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