Legseleven Posted June 4, 2017 Share Posted June 4, 2017 Indeed this behaviour isn't the fault of the ROH, but they certainly have a duty to try to ensure that no audience member is able to behave in this obnoxious, thoughtless manner which affects the enjoyment of many other audience members. 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ninamargaret Posted June 4, 2017 Share Posted June 4, 2017 To be fair to the ROH they do state on their programmes and cast lists that they have a zero tolerance approach to anyone acting in an intimidating, aggressive or threatening manner. The problem is that it is well nigh impossible to monitor this. I couldn't leave my seat to complain about the noise, which sounded like furniture removal, without disturbing many people and missing a large chunk of Symphonic Variations. I think the real problem is that the ROH has two audiences - those that go because they enjoy ballet and those that go for ' the experience' or to show off to their friends. I really don't know what the answer is. Obviously in one sense it doesn't matter to the ROH who buys a ticket, but it DOES matter to those of us who often scrimp and save to go and who wish to enjoy the performance without being disturbed. 8 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
loveclassics Posted June 5, 2017 Share Posted June 5, 2017 3 hours ago, SwissBalletFan said: Indeed, if you actually go to watch ballet you are being subsudised by all of the taxpayers who do not go, so you very much pay a very small percentage of the cost of the ticket without public funding (plus a ticket fee) Actually the Arts Council subsidy only amounts to 10% of the cost of mounting productions. At one Insight Evening a couple of years ago, Monica Mason said that the subsidy barely covered the royalities payable on each ballet and the remainder of the cost had to be met by the ticket prices and individual contributions. Linda 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SwissBalletFan Posted June 5, 2017 Share Posted June 5, 2017 The Roh says that it receives 22% from the arts council http://www.roh.org.uk/news/arts-council-england-national-portfolio-and-bridge-funding-announced The distribution of this money subsidises the lower priced tickets more than 22% (as the higher priced tickets will be contributing to costs), as the Roh itself says, without funding it could not offer tickets under £40. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alison Posted June 5, 2017 Share Posted June 5, 2017 That's the ROH itself: do we actually know these days what the split is between opera, ballet and the theatre itself? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mary Posted June 6, 2017 Share Posted June 6, 2017 On 04/06/2017 at 22:23, Legseleven said: Indeed this behaviour isn't the fault of the ROH, but they certainly have a duty to try to ensure that no audience member is able to behave in this obnoxious, thoughtless manner which affects the enjoyment of many other audience members. I do entirely agree- but perhaps, in fairness, we must agree that they can only do something if a problem is brought to their attention. I think I am right in saying Sunrise didn't report this to an usher- (and of course can hardly do so during the perfomance) - and my sympathy is entirely with her. But, if the ushers are not given a chance to take action, it does seem a little unfair to then blame ROH, and I am not sure that funding has anything to do with it. I have seen them intervene many times to correct poor behaviour, and I have sometimes seen them abused for so doing. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scheherezade Posted June 6, 2017 Share Posted June 6, 2017 2 hours ago, Mary said: I do entirely agree- but perhaps, in fairness, we must agree that they can only do something if a problem is brought to their attention. I think I am right in saying Sunrise didn't report this to an usher- (and of course can hardly do so during the perfomance) - and my sympathy is entirely with her. But, if the ushers are not given a chance to take action, it does seem a little unfair to then blame ROH, and I am not sure that funding has anything to do with it. I have seen them intervene many times to correct poor behaviour, and I have sometimes seen them abused for so doing. Agreed, and when I have brought unacceptable behaviour to the attention of the ushers their response has been admirable but, at the same time, I have seen some of them ignore blatantly bad behaviour when they must have, or should have, been aware of it. I do think that at least part of the point of having the ushers placed around the auditorium should be to keep an eye open for unsociable behaviour and, when seen, to do something about it. The ushers at the Coliseum are like Rottweilers. 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted June 11, 2017 Share Posted June 11, 2017 The audience at Thursday night's Ashton triple were so well behaved, spell bound! Whereas on Saturday, Symphonic Variations was marred by a lot of coughing: auditionees? - they should have felt right at home Marguerite and Armand. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
penelopesimpson Posted June 13, 2017 Share Posted June 13, 2017 On 6/11/2017 at 23:01, Darlex said: The audience at Thursday night's Ashton triple were so well behaved, spell bound! Whereas on Saturday, Symphonic Variations was marred by a lot of coughing: auditionees? - they should have felt right at home Marguerite and Armand. I noticed the coughing on Saturday. Unfortunately I had a group of American ladies beside me who simply would not get up and go. For each interval I ended up being virtually the last person out of the auditorium. At one stage I politely asked if they could move along and was told that I 'should climb over the back of the seats into the row behind.' Charming. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted June 13, 2017 Share Posted June 13, 2017 2 hours ago, penelopesimpson said: I noticed the coughing on Saturday. Unfortunately I had a group of American ladies beside me who simply would not get up and go. For each interval I ended up being virtually the last person out of the auditorium. At one stage I politely asked if they could move along and was told that I 'should climb over the back of the seats into the row behind.' Charming. Sorry to hear of your experience, Penelope. Did you reply to their suggestion? I'm sure my enjoyment of the ballet was greatly enhanced by the pleasant people around me at Thursday's performance. Back in the 90s, I was so looking forward to seeing Symphonic Variations for the very first time. It was an experience rather spoilt by a woman chewing gum loudly behind me for the entire duration! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ian Macmillan Posted June 18, 2017 Share Posted June 18, 2017 This incident, if verified, may take some beating: http://nypost.com/2017/06/18/woman-watching-ballet-gets-karate-chopped-from-behind-suit/ 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ninamargaret Posted July 8, 2017 Share Posted July 8, 2017 Not ballet, but Otello at the ROH this evening. Sitting in Side stalls circle RowB. Party of 3 adults, 2 boys, around 14 and 10 years old. Came equipped with phones, sweets. General fidgeting, mum cuddling the younger child, fanning herself with programme, older boy conducting the orchestra. In the Interval Dad goes out and returns with multiple bottles of water which they place on the ledge. During the second act, more fanning, cuddling, sweets,conducting general fidgeting. I suppose because they must have paid over £200 per seat they thought they could behave in this manner. Surprised that the ushers allowed drink to be brought in and certainly surprised that they were not asked to remove the multiple bottles from the edge. End of season inertia perhaps? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alison Posted July 8, 2017 Share Posted July 8, 2017 Row B? How did they manage to reach the ledge? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ninamargaret Posted July 9, 2017 Share Posted July 9, 2017 7 hours ago, alison said: Row B? How did they manage to reach the ledge? Sorry, should have been clearer. They were in row A. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jan McNulty Posted July 9, 2017 Author Share Posted July 9, 2017 Last night I went to see Available Light in Manchester. I think the Palace is not a good venue and I chose to sit in a side aisle on Row P of the stalls. The 4 seats in front of me were empty. Two ladies moved along from further out and completely obliterated my view. One of the ladies was a lot larger than me (hair, height and breadth). I told her I couldn't see a thing and she suggested I should move. I'm afraid I responded and told her that I was actually sitting in the seat I had booked unlike her... It could have turned nasty methinks but her friend suggested that they just moved one seat further back down. I should say that I have never experienced this problem in those seats before. Should I have said anything? When I have occasionally moved seats I have always made sure I wasn't obstructing someone else's view. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AnneMarriott Posted July 9, 2017 Share Posted July 9, 2017 1 hour ago, Jan McNulty said: Last night I went to see Available Light in Manchester. I think the Palace is not a good venue and I chose to sit in a side aisle on Row P of the stalls. The 4 seats in front of me were empty. Two ladies moved along from further out and completely obliterated my view. One of the ladies was a lot larger than me (hair, height and breadth). I told her I couldn't see a thing and she suggested I should move. I'm afraid I responded and told her that I was actually sitting in the seat I had booked unlike her... It could have turned nasty methinks but her friend suggested that they just moved one seat further back down. I should say that I have never experienced this problem in those seats before. Should I have said anything? When I have occasionally moved seats I have always made sure I wasn't obstructing someone else's view. Yes, but Janet you are a nice considerate person - the sort who always checks behind her when going through a door to see if anyone else is close behind so you can hold the door. Sadly a diminishing minority these days. 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wulff Posted July 10, 2017 Share Posted July 10, 2017 I have noticed a recent feature of audience behaviour in the amphi at the ROH. If there is an empty seat, then quite often the occupant of the seat in the row behind will put his/ her (usually her) feet on the back of the seat in front. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alison Posted July 10, 2017 Share Posted July 10, 2017 Maybe it's to do with the lack of legroom? But annoying, certainly. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wulff Posted July 11, 2017 Share Posted July 11, 2017 I ought to have added that shoes are usually removed before carrying out this manoeuvre. Whether it makes it more or less displeasing I leave you to guess. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pas de Quatre Posted July 12, 2017 Share Posted July 12, 2017 I think you need a tickling stick, preferably extendable!!! 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Don Q Fan Posted July 12, 2017 Share Posted July 12, 2017 Yes Janet same happened 2 weeks ago at Bristol Hippodrome when we saw BRB Coppelia, empty row in front but after first interval came back to find our seats taken and those in front needless to say the occupants of our seats were moved along. Luckily our view wasn't affected much by the people in front. Annoying though. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jan McNulty Posted July 12, 2017 Author Share Posted July 12, 2017 Quite DQF! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VickyPage Posted July 29, 2017 Share Posted July 29, 2017 My family have a running joke that I'm not so much Vicky Page in The Red Shoes as the ballet obsessed young woman who appears with an escort in the opening scene of the movie. But I never hoped to experience something similar to that young woman's outrage when Marius Goring/Julian Craster and his friends push past her to leave the auditorium in the middle of a performance. Sadly, I did experience this last night at Swan Lake. Now, before I launch into a long rant, I would like to say that I do sort of understand why the woman in question did it. We were seated in the Upper Slips, and she had very bad vertigo, so from the moment she sat down she began to feel afraid. I feel very bad for her and sorry for her predicament, but if she felt that awful from the second she arrived, she probably should have gone out before the lights went down. The other thing that was particularly hard to feel sympathetic about was the way that before she left, she and her friend talked to each other in normal level voices (not whispers, no!) and started to point out things in the auditorium to discuss during the performance. I'm sorry to say that I was already in something of a bad mood with her and her friend before the performance even started, as everyone around me had decided they were at a pantomime in Cirencester and had whipped out mints, sweets, crisps and a bottle of Coke which was unceremoniously splashed on me when the lady I've been complaining about failed to open it correctly. If you have such crippling vertigo that you cannot go on escalators, please please do not book seats high up in the Royal Opera House! (Also - to the gentleman in the second or third row of the Amphi on the left - I could see you on your phone during Act III.) 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trog Posted July 31, 2017 Share Posted July 31, 2017 I sincerely hope that no ballet venue follows the RSC http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-4741276/Royal-Shakespeare-Company-encourages-audience-talk.html 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SusanR Posted July 31, 2017 Share Posted July 31, 2017 5 minutes ago, trog said: I sincerely hope that no ballet venue follows the RSC http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-4741276/Royal-Shakespeare-Company-encourages-audience-talk.html Me too, Trog! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jm365 Posted July 31, 2017 Share Posted July 31, 2017 I couldn't agree more if it ever became the norm anywhere! However, it does appear that these are to be special performances for special audiences who might not be able to sit through a 'normal' show. Quite a few places now put these on so that a wider public might feel at ease going to a performance. As long as they are clearly signalled so that no one who might object buys a ticket, I can't see any harm. 7 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
capybara Posted July 31, 2017 Share Posted July 31, 2017 BRB is mounting one such performance of Sleeping Beauty and I think this is a wonderful initiative. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RuthE Posted July 31, 2017 Share Posted July 31, 2017 Exactly. (I'm off to the RSC tonight...) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Legseleven Posted July 31, 2017 Share Posted July 31, 2017 I agree that it is a lovely and I think overdue way to be more inclusive for those who may not be able to behave as most theatregoers do. And dare I say that it may be less distracting in a ballet performance (well done BRB!) than it would be in a spoken or sung performance. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BMC Posted July 31, 2017 Share Posted July 31, 2017 Agree that it's a really nice idea as long as it's clear that there is a different audience approach for these particular performances. A friend of mine has a husband with Alzheimer's and she was delighted when I mentioned that our local cinema has dementia friendly screenings so she can go and relax and not worry if he is restless or talks at 'inappropriate' moments. As this is the audience behaviour thread and we are in the midst of the Mariinsky season, I am currently reliving the moment when a member of the audience brought in a tiny baby to Swan Lake!! The baby was actually quite quiet but of course started to snuffle and whimper - a very stern gentleman soon gave short shrift. Several years ago now but I can still remember my feeling of being totally aghast!! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bangorballetboy Posted July 31, 2017 Share Posted July 31, 2017 I thoroughly welcome relaxed or chilled performances; it's a wonderful idea and allows those who otherwise might not have access to a show to see it. Even the Proms had one this past weekend (and I hear it was very successful). 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ninamargaret Posted July 31, 2017 Share Posted July 31, 2017 Maybe the time has come for performances to be graded.1. Serious ballet/opera/ theatregoers. 2. Expense account/night out ballet/opera/theatregoers 3. Relaxed performances. Not sure how it would be policed though! 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trog Posted August 1, 2017 Share Posted August 1, 2017 Grade 1 is easy - you ask audience members a question like "Who is your favourite dancer?" and if they answer Fonteyn/Nureyev/Bussell etc, it's obvious that these are the only dancers they have heard of and they are barred Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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