To the Editor:

Re “No Cellphone, No Recording, No Audience?” (front page, Oct. 7):

I applaud the performers, like the violinist A nne-Sophie Mutter, who have taken matters into their own hands to stop intrusive and inappropriate filming in theaters.

The behavior of phone addicts distracts audience members as well. The light from a phone that appears suddenly as someone texts during a play or film is profoundly annoying, as is having your view blocked repeatedly by people who simply must make an Instagram-able “I was there!” record of a performance.

I write as someone who was shoved and almost knocked to the floor in the R ijksmuseum in Amsterdam by a tourist determined to get the perfect selfie with a Vermeer. Apparently, enthusiasm for art now seems to require the intermediary of electronic devices. It’s a shame that cultural institutions are pandering to this.

Ellen D. Murphy

Portland, Me.

To the Editor:

After paying for pricey seats to see “An American in Paris” and “To Kill a Mockingbird,” I had the bad luck both times to be seated next to cellphone offenders.