A fight in a sold-out theatre, and the problem with public behaviour in 2026.

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The people who innocently went along to see Mamma Mia! (the musical, not us, the media company) on January 3 didn't ask to be an audience to a full-blown fight.

They were expecting 'Dancing Queen', but what they got was a 'Duel' that would make Hamilton look like a playground tiff.

The now-viral footage first appeared on Reddit and shows a man yelling at fellow audience members in the row behind him, attempting to call over security during an intermission to report them for being "loud and obnoxious."

"I need security over here now, 'cause these ladies and this whole section are going to vouch for it," he said (very loudly and aggressively, I might add).

"Now they want to use profanity in front of my nieces," the man can be heard saying. "You want to make a scene? I'm going to make a scene! Mess with my teenage nieces again."

Wow. It was a tough watch, definitely not the 'Name Of The Game' anyone was looking for. The man has now responded (what did we do before TikTok? Create a press release?).

Watch: Out Loud unpacks the viral video "If you were offered 120K to work remotely versus 240K to work in an office, which would you choose?" Post continues below.

His version of events is that during the first act, "numerous requests were ignored about singing obnoxiously loud, clapping, laughing, having conversations," he explained in his piece to camera on his TikTok @officialuncledaddy.

"Intermission hit, and again, I ask them to please keep it down for the second act, where they replied with profanity on separate occasions, directed at my nieces, directed at my wife, directed at me."

"I was in the aisle looking for an usher, and when I look back, I see this lady hovering her hands over my niece, both of my nieces' heads, and that's where I thought it had gone far enough. So I came back, and that's when the video starts," he shared.

"I'm asking for security to come to us, because at this point, I had had enough, and it just... it had gone way too far."

Watch: A reposted video of the viral outburst with commentary. Video: TikTok @thatafricanaunty1. Post continues below.

@thatafricanaunty1

mamma mia broadway performance security

♬ original sound - That African Aunty

The internet had opinions, as it always does, with many people commenting that theatre etiquette was 'Defying Gravity' (and not in a good way).

For those who might not be across exactly what that is: in musicals, particularly, there is a "don't sing along" and "don't talk" unwritten rule.

It's mostly about respecting the "sight and sound" of the people around you and the performers on stage. Because live theatre is a shared space, small actions, like a glowing phone or a crinkling bag, can be much more disruptive than they would be in a movie theatre.

Comments were largely in favour of the "screaming uncle."

"It's a show, not a concert. No one paid to hear you sing," one user commented.

"If you want to sing along really loud, go to a Taylor Swift concert, not a Broadway show," another shared.

"Unless it says sing-along on the bill, we do not sing along: plays are not karaoke. Those tickets ain't cheap," another added.

As a self-confessed musical theatre nerd, I too find it hard not to go full 'Thank You For The Music' in full "fortississimo" mode when watching a musical that I love and know every word of.

The struggle is real.

You want to feel the music, you want to join in, but you have to remember: the person next to you paid to hear a professional soprano, not your shower-rehearsed rendition of 'The Winner Takes It All'.

But for me, it's not just the breaking of theatre etiquette with the sing-along — albeit, that would be incredibly irritating. The greater problem for me is the behaviour surrounding it.

If the man is telling the truth and the women were "replying with profanities" to his polite requests to be quiet, that's where the real 'SOS' lies.

Musicals are meant to be magical, and they are. They are an escape from reality, where people quite literally burst into song to convey emotion. They are meant to be a happy place. They are my happy place.

For the women to be swearing at teenagers, and then for the man to respond by yelling, they are both in breach of not only theatre etiquette but also basic public decency.

When did we decide that our own main character syndrome takes precedence over the hundreds of other people in the room?

When did it become okay to have public outbursts anywhere, let alone in the sacred space of a theatre?

The world is noisy and angry enough as it is; we go to the theatre precisely because we're looking for 'Somewhere That's Green' — or at least somewhere civilised.

Let's make a pact: next time you're at a show, keep the singing in your head and the phone in your pocket. And in general, let's take a breath before entering into a public brawl.

Because you really don't want to become the lead role in a viral TikTok titled Audience Members Behaving Badly.

If we can't manage to be 'Thankful For The Music' during a production of Mamma Mia!, then we're in trouble.

The show must go on, sure, but if this is how we're going to act, maybe we don't deserve a seat in the stalls.

Feature Image: TikTok @@thatafricanaunty1 / @officialuncledaddy.