Hot take: Playbills should be handed out at the END of a performance. 

Before outraged traditionalists call for my head over being deprived of their  hallowed pre-show flip-throughs, I call on these defenders of their cause to cite the benefits of the current method that would SUPERSEDE the pros of withholding Playbills until the walk out of the theater.

To name a few:

1. Prevents rude audiences from noisily crinkling through pages DURING the show, and from pulling our focus through their lack of focus; locking in is as contagious as divided attention. 
2. Removes the liability of anyone slipping on the discarded Playbills inevitably littered all over the ground (don’t do that). 
3. Saves the ushers from needing to clean them up before they can go home for the night! 

Or are you in the business of inflicting additional work on our beloved laborers?