Turn off, tune in: theatre fans, museum-goers forced to go phone-free

Mobile phones are locked into 'Yondr' pouches before people enter an exhibition at the Brooklyn Museum in New York. Photo: AFP

When Adam Weiss arrived at a New York theatre to see a Broadway show, he was dismayed to learn he would have to lock up his cell phone.

The team behind Freestyle Love Supreme, an improvisation comedy show co-created by Lin-Manuel Miranda of Hamilton musical fame, requires audience members to keep their mobiles in a locked pouch during the performance.