British Theater Introduces 'Ninjas' to Silence Theater Talkers and Texters

Crouching tiger, hidden usher.

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While texting moviegoers have long been a scorn to serious cinephiles, scorn and nasty looks have largely proven ineffective in warding off the unwelcome telecommunication. It so frustrated people at one theater in London, in fact, that they decided to take a real stand against the annoyance.

The Prince Charles Cinema has recruited a "ninja taskforce" to wear skintight, jet black "Morphsuits" and wait in the back of the theater, monitoring the crowd; if anyone whips out the phone and start pounding out texts, the spandex-clad cine-ninjas spring out and accost the cellular offender.

Gregor Lawson, a co-founder of Morphsuits, said in a release that he was inspired to take action by his own experience in the theater.

"I’m a big fan of going to the cinema, but there’s an unspoken code of conduct when you’re watching a movie that some people just don’t understand," he said (via /Film). "Then when some fans were discussing being ninjas in their Morphsuits on our Facebook page I had a eureka moment. I thought I’d find a cinema and see if we could bring a light hearted taskforce to the aid of movie fans.”

The theater texting debate has raged in the United States, as some cinemas (such as the Alamo Draft House) go beyond the normal big screen request to shut off phones, while theater chain leaders discussed potentially allowing some texting during a panel at this spring's CinemaCon.