JohnS

Thanks Richard - as you say not very user friendly. The full month display from your earlier link today does work well.

Many thanks Richard. The top link also gives the ‘Calendar’ display but then I find it only works by first clicking to get the full month display. Clicking a specific date or a booking period takes me to ‘Tickets & events’ which I find really frustrating for navigating.

If you click on ‘Menu’ top right on the home page it gives you ‘Tickets & Events’, ‘Shop’ and ‘News’ and a few others. I think some time ago Richard or Rob pointed out that ‘Menu’ was nothing to do with Food and Drink! But I sympathise very much with a lot of what you say. Hopefully we’ll all get a bit more familiar with the website and the ROH will make a number of changes in light of all the feedback.

The tickets were originally £70.

I’ve never seen an offer advertised anywhere - my brother and a friend simply asked at the Box Office a couple of hours beforehand. For completeness perhaps I should say they had got some very restricted view tickets in the first place but I have no idea if that was a factor.

While I am unimpressed by many of the changes (particularly ‘what’s on’ and ‘calendar’), I’m not sure I follow the point that News has vanished. The News page is still there and can be accessessed from the menu. It has all the News items (albeit many items now do not accept comments) and at the bottom of the page are all the links to the ROH (for the historic database which still needs a lot of updating) and the Royal Ballet, including the biographies of dancers etc.

I think a lot of the comments have suggested that discounts are for students. I know a couple of non students/not ROH Friends were able to get good amphitheatre tickets £10 each ticket for Monday's performance a couple of hours or so before curtain up.

Good to hear an alternative view MJW but I don’t share your optimism. Like you and no doubt many others when the booking period opens I know what I’m wanting and am waiting for the clock to hit 9:00, hoping broadband will be working out in the sticks. I can often get my booking complete within 10 minutes. But with the new website, I can’t see how to move easily from production to production to Insight to Rehearsals etc. In planning my initial bookings or if I’m wanting to book an extra trip, I like very much to maximise the number of performances/events I can get to so as to make the most of travel and overnight stays. A functioning calendar is incredibly helpful and ideally one that can quickly provide casting information so ideally on line. The old calendar was excellent but it’s gone unless you have the IT nous to access the familiar pages which I don’t although I’m very grateful for the links provided by posters above. Whether they’ll work for Autumn booking we’ll have to see but surely the ROH should fix these problems before then?

Website comments sent 14 March: I’m afraid I’m struggling to see what’s happened with the new website and particularly ‘Ticket’s and events’ rather than the very familiar, highly functional ‘What’s on’. I can’t get an over view of what’s on, I can’t get a calendar display, and I can’t access booking periods. To me functionality has been completely lost and I wonder how I’ll manage to cope when booking opens for Autumn. To be honest, I really can’t see any advantage in what’s been done. Sorry to be so negative and there may well be teething problems etc. I do hope you’ll be able to sort things. Answer received 18 March: I will be passing your feedback to our Digital team. I do know they are issuing new pages over the coming weeks and months and will be endeavouring to make the user experience as smooth as possible. I’ll be interested to see what new pages are issued but in many ways I wish the old pages were brought back - I found they gave me exactly what I wanted.

And I see the website has also been updated.

Had I picked up from the broadcast Insight that Jonas Kaufmann was imminently to become a father - I might have got this completely wrong? So hopefully it may be ‘Glückwünsche’.

Whilst deeply unimpressed with the new website, I’m not sure I follow bangorballetboy’s point. The new calendar for 11 June takes me to Romeo & Juliet and then the performance on 11 June. It just about works but no where near as clearly as the excellent, functional old calendar.

I can appreciate there’s an irritation paying full price when neighboours may have very heavily discounted tickets but having been delighted to buy my favourite tickets as soon as booking opened, I’m just hoping there'll be a fullish house. I think it would be very disconcerting if the house were only half full. I know Ludwig II of Bavaria might have preferred private performances but a full house with an appreciative audience can massively add to the experience, particularly if also well behaved. That said, it would have been better if the ROH had thought more about pricing and more actively marketed the performances so that there were fewer discounted tickets.

You’re very welcome. I wasn’t sure if there was a Ballet as I didn’t catch the programme live. Youtube is pretty good for recordings, sometimes including the score/piano transcription. But then I realised when I went to iPlayer that the tracks are all there individually to play as well as the programme. Here’s the full programme: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m0003cb9 Here’s just the Fandango: http://www.bbc.co.uk/music/records/n5d8jb Many thanks for highlighting the programme.

Hope this is right:

Please do tell me it’s nothing like the Barbican’s (aptly named) Pit.

Many thanks Richard - please would ROH commission you to restore sanity and advise on any ‘upgrades’?

Many thanks Saodan and Richard. Given that the calendar information is still available and really clear and so useful, I take it the ROH could readily provide a link? I’m hoping the current Calendar link is not what the website designers intended and will be sorted - but as the website has gone through a fair amount of testing this is poor.

I think in the Ballet we are able to empathise with the Creature - William’s death seems much more an accident than murder to me. It’s just that the reanimation scene is very rushed when there might have been opportunity to show the Creature experiencing his physical being, new limbs, the immediate surroundings etc before Frankenstein realises the Creature has come to life, is repulsed by what he sees and is appalled at what he’s done. As regards the ‘lurking’ early in Act 2, I think this is pretty effective in the theatre if you have a decent view but I do appreciate that for many seats with restricted views, it’s very unclear what is going on. Again a plea for the production team to look at perspectives other than centre Stalls, Grand Tier, Balcony etc. To me the Creature’s shadow is deliberate and chilling. In Act 3 it’s Frankenstein who is haunted by the Creature and sees him dancing with guests just as he sees Justine and William etc from the past. When Frankenstein’s haunted images are replaced by the actual Creature embarking on his blood fest, is this when the Creature is back in his original costume? I can’t recall and as James says, we’re more engaged in the dance than Frankenstein’s father’s death. Overall, my sympathies are very much for the Creature rather than Frankenstein who does nothing to help Justine when he knows she is innocent, I think more so in the Ballet than the novel where he suspects/isn’t in a position to intervene as he only arrives after Justine has been charged? But then I tend to be pro Caliban and think Prospero has a great deal to answer for.

But filters seem only to work for one purchase - which will be incredibly frustrating when booking for a number of performances when a booking period opens and when ‘Calendar’ is completely blank.

Thanks Richard - I’d been looking for a ‘Contact us’ link as that’s what it used to be called and is still there on other pages. All very confusing. I’m afraid I’ve drawn a complete blank with Calendar.

I wouldn’t normally post from Instagram etc but thought this might lift the spirits. Schools Matinee is fast approaching 28 March and public debut 13 April.

I agree - it should be accessible from the home page but it can be found on other pages: http://www.roh.org.uk/contact

Can’t help thinking that the website rather complements the shambles in SW1A? Calendar is completely hopeless.

Will be fascinating to see Akram Khan’s ’Creature’ and another full length production.