Waiting at stage door for a star to appear doesn’t make you a stalker. In fact, that star might actually be hoping to meet you.

The curtain is down, the house lights are coming up and your palms are still tingling from all that applauding. What next? Do you head for the car park? Indulge in a post-show drink? Or do you linger a little longer, wend your way around the corner or down a staircase and wait at the stage door for a chance, however fleeting, to pass on your gratitude in person and maybe even score an autograph into the bargain?

Stage dooring – yes, it really does have its own nascent verb – is not for everybody. For some it shatters the illusion; others see it as unnecessary or intrusive, and stage door culture varies from country to country and theatre to theatre: at the MET, for instance, departing artists are practically guaranteed a throng of fans, while the Sydney Opera House’s stage door (which, incidentally, is much easier to find) is often deserted.

For those who don’t stay, it can be tempting to pigeonhole those who do as groupies, mad fans or celebrity stalkers. Most people...