ROH should nip this habit in the bud

[penelopesimpson]

Has anyone else noticed how, increasingly, the audience are taking coats, bags and luggage into the auditorium?  My companion last night had an uncomfortable time as the lady next to her had two heavy coats and a backpack and the man behind complained when she hung it over the back of her seat.

 

I ate in the Balcony Restaurant on Wednesday and looking down it was quite shocking how many people were in winter coats and had backpacks.  I even saw one rucksack.  Quite apart from spoiling the ambience and aesthetics, it is hell if you happen to be sitting in this crowd.

 

Okay, I accept that there are problems with cloakrooms caused by the building work, but ROH are making a rod for their own back with this.  On Wednesday people on the door were telling arrivals that 'there is only limited cloakroom space,' which isn't really true as the facility downstairs is large, even if you do have to queue.

 

I have posted before about front of house and the rebuilding.  They are becoming very boot-faced about the whole thing and making a meal of it.  Even on relatively mild evenings, they are swathed in scarfs and some wearing overcoats.  Yes, we get it.  Its uncomfortable for staff during building work, but.....

 

Come on ROH.  Time to call a halt to this martyrdom.  The audience pay a great deal for their tickets and its our money that keeps the staff in jobs.  Time to smarten up, I think.

[aileen]

Well, I found the ROH rather cold last week. There was a blast of cold air in the corridor outside the amphitheatre. I was glad to be wearing a long sleeved top plus jacket plus fleece (and I put my coat under my seat). I can quite understand why staff working near the front door would want to be warmly dressed.

[ninamargaret]

cloakroom arrangements are awful, particularly if you are sitting on the right side of the auditorium and are, like me, a bit mobility challenged and need one of the lifts - two if you need to,get down to the cloakroom. it used to be so convenient to be able to leave your coat, and use the loo on the ground floor. it looks as though this will all vanish, and all just for somewhere serving food. i don't think they have the needs of their audiences at heart.

[capybara]

I was one of the 'guilty' coat wearers/carriers last night. However, the three people nearest to me in the row had big bags as well as coats. In fact, our 'stuff' kept getting tangled up. But, talking about it, the problem was exacerbated because there was variously a) insufficient time to go downstairs with coats/bags; ( a desire/need to keep warm during the intervals when the blast of cold air hits the auditorium; © no room left in the cloakroom under the Stalls Circle; or (d) an unwillingness to queue for ages afterwards (collecting coats/bags at the second interval doesn't exactly solve the problem).

[LinMM]

Sorry but I haven't got an awful lot of sympathy for people complaining about the cloakroom arrangements except perhaps for people with mobility issues as I cans see that currently that would present problems.

I trek up to the ROH from Brighton but I leave my backpack in the cloakroom ( hand bag with everything I need inside my backpack including a change of shoes etc etc!!

I have a VERY thick overcoat for temps once they go below 5 degrees .......which they certainly were yesterday but can still,manage without my coat in the auditorium.......and I'm no spring chicken with my three score years and ten soon looming up next birthday.

I personally think it's a case of where there's a will there's a way.

 

However I don't mind if others cannot be bothered to use the cloakrooms which are free and never take that long to get through at the end as long as inconvenience isn't caused to,others.

So far I have not experienced any such inconvenience so if people can manage their bags and coats in their seats then good on them I just happen to like travelling light once inside the ROH ....it's bad enough for me just trying to manage TWO pairs of glasses so have no wish to complicate things with coats hats and scarves etc etc .

But that's a personal choice I make I'm just glad not to have to worry about my entrappings once in my seat!!

Edited February 12, 2017 by LinMM

[Amelia]

However I don't mind if others cannot be bothered to use the cloakrooms which are free and never take that long to get through at the end ...

 

When I was leaving my winter coat at the LG cloakroom last Saturday, the attendant politely warned me: "After the performance the queueing time can be about 20 min."

Since it was a matinee I didn't mind. However, had it been an evening performance I would have made sure to collect my coat at the last interval. The large size of the cloakroom doesn't help if only two attendants are working as it was at that time.

Edited February 12, 2017 by Amelia

[LinMM]

Yes they said that to me yesterday as well and agree that at a matinee waiting time isn't so much an issue .....but have to admit that so far I've never had to wait more than somewhere between 5-10 mins.....

Yesterday I went to the loo first....that took about five mins altogether and then walked straight into'the cloakroom no waiting time at all!!

[capybara]

I was one of the 'guilty' coat wearers/carriers last night. However, the three people nearest to me in the row had big bags as well as coats. In fact, our 'stuff' kept getting tangled up. But, talking about it, the problem was exacerbated because there was variously a) insufficient time to go downstairs with coats/bags; ( a desire/need to keep warm during the intervals when the blast of cold air hits the auditorium; © no room left in the cloakroom under the Stalls Circle; or (d) an unwillingness to queue for ages afterwards (collecting coats/bags at the second interval doesn't exactly solve the problem).

 

I need to apologise for the strange typos which appeared on this post. Where did that face spring from?

 

By the way, the people I was talking with on Sat. were experiencing the new cloakroom arrangements for the first time. One had mobility problems and got worried because the lift was so slow. Two hadn't realised the amount of time they would need to go downstairs to hand in their coats.

 

I have discovered that a number of people are worried about using the marble stairs and so have introduced them to alternative routes and suggested improved signage to the ROH.

[Jan McNulty]

IIRC on another thread a long time ago that there was a discussion about the temperature in the auditorium. It was explained that the cooling/heating came up through the metal chair supports and that if large items were placed under the seats this system couldn't work properly. I have used the cloakroom since then.

[annamk]

We went to the matinee on Saturday. We arrived in the Amphi bar area between 5/10 mins before the start. We wanted to check our coats in but we were told that the cloakroom was too full & only bags could be checked in. We didn't have enough time to trek back down to the basement cloakroom so we had to take them in with us - if they had said at the main entrance that the upstairs cloakroom was full we probably would have gone to the downstairs cloakroom. Plenty of other people were similarly being turned away after us. It was freezing in the Floral Hall in the intervals.

[Mary]

I didn't find it cold in the bar or anywhere else, at all.

 

Less able people will find the cloakrooms difficult I can imagine. Presumably when the new one is finished in the amphi, things will be better?

 

However, the number of fit younger people who expect to take several large bags and coats into the amphi does surprise me a bit... Especially  the lady on Saturday who had filled the small floor space of my seat with her suitcase- sized designer handbag and two department store bags and didn't move them until I  asked..even then only a grudging few inches- until I had to insist, golly, some people- is it called ' a sense of entitlement'?

 

Those puffa coats which fold up v small are PERFECT - I fold mine up and use it as a cushion behind my back. Very comfortable.

[Fonty]

I am visiting the ROH soon, so I thought I would check.  They state:

 

We offer a limited free cloakroom service for small items and coats. However, following recently heightened security measures across London, we have been advised not to allow any large bags, rucksacks or backpacks into the building. Please be aware that if you bring such items into the building we may request that you seek alternative storage arrangements for them away from the Royal Opera House; this could result in you missing the start of the performance.

 

I always carry a rucksack to work.  I carry my laptop in it, plus all the other stuff I need for work, and sports gear on certain days of the week.  This may not look very elegant, but it is certainly better for my back than lugging a heavy bag in one hand.  As it happens, I shall be working from home on the day of my visit, so will not need a large bag.  But I am interested to know what "alternative storage arrangements" the ROH is expecting people to use. .  

 

I have in the past tucked my heavy winter coat under the seat in various theatres where they charge for the cloak room, but I have always checked it in at Covent Garden.  However, it seems very antisocial indeed of people to hang their coats, jackets, cardigans or whatever on the back of their seats.  This is encroaching on the leg room of the person behind, who has every right to complain.  If people can't or won't use the cloakroom, they should keep their belongings on their laps.

Edited February 13, 2017 by Fonty

[Legseleven]

I couldn't agree more, Fonty. As ever it goes back to my philosophy that you shouldn't expect other theatregoers/diners/travellers, whatever, to put up with you or your family or your belongings. If you can't or won't or may not for whatever reason behave appropriately, then you shouldn't go out - or you should be prepared at the first sign of imminent meltdown to leave quietly - so sit at the end of a row and close to an exit. Similarly if you can't or won't accommodate all your belongings in the space allocated to you in a public venue, then don't take them with you.

 

I hasten to add that I am not referring to those with mobility problems who find that they cannot leave quietly and quickly, or that there is no cloakroom space available, nor am I expecting those with disabled family members to stay at home at all times. I do expect, though, that the interests of other members of the audience/other diners etc, who have often paid a lot of money for tickets/transport/accommodation as part of their eagerly awaited night out are considered. That is only polite.

[trog]

Perhaps the ROH expect you to use the left luggage facilty at Charing Cross or the Citystasher in Drury Lane?

 

I don't go to the ROH, but I go to plenty of other theatres. I fold my leather jacket and put it under my seat and dump it on top when I go out in the interval. On day trips to London or Manchester theatres, my rucksack sits between my legs and gets dumped on top of my seat too. I don't care how inelegant it looks, or "spoiling the ambience and aesthetics". I go to the theatre to be entertained, not look pretty and provided my stuff doesn't get in anyones way, it shouldn't be a problem.

[Saodan]

Especially  the lady on Saturday who had filled the small floor space of my seat with her suitcase- sized designer handbag and two department store bags...

 

 

On my trip to Woolf Works I ended up sat next to a similar couple, designer handbag and a few bags of what looked like expensive stuff from boutiques. They turned out to be very well behaved, but I was concerned. 

 

I wonder if it is a generational thing. Gone are the days when the theatre is treated with reverence. You no longer have to put on your top hat and tails, and be on your best behaviour. Now, the theatre is more common place, just some light entertainment at the end of the day. We are the generation of casual theatre goers, and don’t have the knowledge of theatre etiquette that many of the veterans do. It probably doesn’t even occur to many that they may be able to leave things in a cloakroom. 

 

This isn’t necessarily a good thing or a bad thing, just a changing engagement with the institution. I wonder if the situation is worse for shows like Woolf Works or Nutcracker, which appeal to a broader audience, than it is for programs that attract a more ‘traditional’ audience?

 

As for the Royal Opera House, the staff must be as fed up with the situations as patrons are. I can only imagine how frustrating it must be to still have patrons expecting to store large items even after a year of telling people there is limited storage space. Lets hope things start to sort themselves out soon, only a year or so until the building work is finished.

[Quintus]

 

 

Gone are the days when the theatre is treated with reverence. You no longer have to put on your top hat and tails, and be on your best behaviour.

 

That's certainly true - a chap behind and along from me at Woolf Works was wearing stripy tracksuit bottoms, which is a new sartorial low point for the ROH, surpassing my previous benchmark of a neighbour wearing manky Crocs...

[ninamargaret]

I believe that in the Soviet era it was considered 'non kulturny' to wear coats in the theatre. (Spelling probably wrong, but you get the idea). But they had pretty lavish facilities for storing all the heavy coats and big fur hats! I go to many theatres where cloakroom space is poor or q non existent, so tend to wear a scruffy coat that can be bunged under the seat.

[Moomin]

Surely the problem is that the ROH isn't providing an essential service? They are not even directing people to appropriate alternatives. Those of us who don't live locally will often have bags with us. The use of the cloakroom was more useful to me than any of their other initiatives to improve access, I would happily pay for the service if necessary. The only left luggage facilities I could find on the net were at train stations which are extremely expensive and more importantly very inconvenient, this is the problem with not knowing the local area!

[Jacqueline]

I sat in the ROH stalls once, about row N. I had to keep my coat on through the performance as just prior to taking my seat, I had a rather disastrous wardrobe malfunction involving my trousers and what turned out to be a sticky bench I had unwittingly sat on.

It was a warm afternoon and I got some funny looks, but those people in the row behind me didn't know I was actually doing them a great favour. That was one of the very times I actually took a coat with me. Just as well for all concerned.

[Jan McNulty]

Many years ago, I was doing a Friday night/Saturday afternoon combo.  Because of a train strike I was having to use the coach and didn't have much time to get back to Victoria.

 

I had a small shoulder bag and an overnight bag that was about the same size as the handbag I am currently using.  I was forced into putting my overnight bag into the amphi cloakroom.  I was assured that I would be able to get my bag before the curtain calls had ended and had even managed to swap seats with another patron so I was at the end of the row.

 

I shot out of the auditorium as the curtain fell ... to find the cloakroom all closed up and not opened until the curtain calls had finished!!  At least I was first in the queue but I thought I was about to expire by the time I got back to Victoria and literally made the coach by the skin of my teeth!  It quite ruined the afternoon for me.

 

But how things have been let go if they allow people into the auditorium with multiple bags...

[alison]

I too have been surprised at the amount of shopping some people bring in with them, usually in those posh, rigid cardboard bags.  I usually bring things in in canvas carriers so that they can at least be folded up/away - and don't rustle.

[LinMM]

I had a back pack on Saturday .....not one of those really huge ones for travelling to Australia with .....but a medium sized one which had in it my change of shoes, my current book, and a small handbag to use in auditorium with glasses in etc ......I had no probs they just searched it and let me in!

So I wonder what the limit would be!! I sometimes have my smallish wheely case with me but haven't tried to leave that at ROH yet ....would have been devastated after trekking from Brighton to be told I couldn't go in.

Could you get your money back on a ticket in such a situation?

[Fonty]

I sometimes have my smallish wheely case with me but haven't tried to leave that at ROH yet ....would have been devastated after trekking from Brighton to be told I couldn't go in.

Could you get your money back on a ticket in such a situation?

 

Well, as the website states that large bags will not be allowed, I suspect not.  I have a fairly large rucksack, but I have never had any trouble getting in to any theatre.  Once in my seat, rucksack tucks between my legs, coat folds up neatly under the seat, handbag stays on lap.  I am comfortable, (or as comfortable as it is possible to be in some of the snug spaces, and more to the point, I do not take up the space of anyone else. 

 

I guess those with several shopping bags have made a day of it in Bond Street or whatever, before going on to the theatre in the evening. 

[Scheherezade]

That's certainly true - a chap behind and along from me at Woolf Works was wearing stripy tracksuit bottoms, which is a new sartorial low point for the ROH, surpassing my previous benchmark of a neighbour wearing manky Crocs...

 

My worst experience at the ROH involved the girl sitting next to me quite openly removing her old and very smelly trainers to reveal extremely whiffy feet. The trouble was she was so friendly I really couldn't say anything. And how do you say what you would like to say in those circumstances anyway? 

[alison]

By the way, if I may digress here: those of you who've been to the Barbican recently, are the limits to what you can take in *quite* as draconian as the website indicates?  I was struggling to see how I could get even my baby laptop in there, and since it's in the City I can imagine a lot of business people who have to take laptops home on a regular basis, and wouldn't be able to leave them in the cloakroom for security reasons.

[Don Q Fan]

So far I haven't had a problem with using the Amphitheatre cloakroom, but I prefer to leave big coats there otherwise I roll my coat up shove in a bag and stick it under my seat. I hate being next to people with coats on their lap encroaching on my space.

A 20 minute wait is shocking, you should see the cloakroom operation in Berlin it's superb with a special area set aside for furs. And they're very quick at the end as is Het National Ballet Theatre in Amsterdam and Opera Bastille in Paris.

[cavycapers]

I went to the Bolshoi in the early eighties, and you were MADE to take your coat off and leave it in the cloakroom (or you were shot ) Quite right too!

 

I know there are exceptional circumstances sometimes, but I no more understand why people cannot survive without their coats, shopping, rucksacks, etc for 50 mins at a time, than I understand why people cannot go for that period without chugging water.

Edited February 14, 2017 by cavycapers

[cavycapers]

This is the ROH's statement about bags?!

 

'We offer a limited free cloakroom service for small items and coats. However, following recently heightened security measures across London, we have been advised not to allow any large bags, rucksacks or backpacks into the building. Please be aware that if you bring such items into the building we may request that you seek alternative storage arrangements for them away from the Royal Opera House; this could result in you missing the start of the performance.'

 

I had not seen this before, but am now furious. How very Londoncentric of them. I travel down many times a year, and therefore have to stay overnight, due to there being no way of getting home after a performance, and so have to check in an overnight bag. Unfortunately, the fact that they can sell out every performance means that they can continue to make clients feel as unwelcome as possible, with their priority booking policies, overpriced and poor quality catering (teabag in a cup of lukewarm water!) and their inadequate cloackroom facilites. Some things they can't help, such as the fact that I have to pay at least £70 to see more than half the stage, but they can do something about their customer services. Unfortunately they have us over a barrel.

[Don Q Fan]

Well said.

[Mary]

Many theatres and galleries have brought in these restrictions, not just ROH.

[Lizbie1]

I was a regular at the (pre-remont) Bolshoi for a couple of years and can confirm that the cloakroom facilities were superb, more so than they usually are in Russia. However this is a matter of necessity over there given the bulky coats, scarves and hats which are a basic requirement during a Russian winter. As I recall, the cloakrooms were barely used once Spring arrived.

 

I usually take my coat and modest backpack into the auditorium with me as my journey home takes over two hours and the trains are infrequent at night: a two minute delay could mean the difference between getting home at midnight (a rare luxury!) and half past one. My things can always be safely stowed under my seat, though. I do agree that it's a bit much to be taking a big coat into the auditorium and then being too nice to let it touch the (in my experience spotless) floor under the seats. I had a very itchy one either side of me on Saturday afternoon and they did encroach uncomfortably.

 

On the subject of catching trains: one of my pet hates is unreliable performance timings, and they seem to me to be getting less accurate at ROH of late. Is it just my perception or is this in part caused by increasingly sloppy punctuality? Everything seems to start 5 minutes late this season, and the intervals appear to be overrunning as well. (It's beginning to remind me of Moscow in that respect at least!) And don't get me started on the ROH's apparent policy of setting start times to finish as close to 10.30 as possible and the extravagant length and frequency of intervals.

[Fonty]

This is the ROH's statement about bags?!

 

'We offer a limited free cloakroom service for small items and coats. However, following recently heightened security measures across London, we have been advised not to allow any large bags, rucksacks or backpacks into the building. Please be aware that if you bring such items into the building we may request that you seek alternative storage arrangements for them away from the Royal Opera House; this could result in you missing the start of the performance.'

 

I had not seen this before, but am now furious..

 

Well, I did post exactly the same quote in post number 12, Cavycapers. 

 

Regarding people not putting their coats in the cloakroom because they want to save time at the end when they dash for the last train home, I think this is the perfect argument for getting the conductor to play the music at the correct speed.  Just think, they could probably shave 20 minutes off the running time of the three act classics.  And everyone would have time to check out their coats and bags. Problem sorted!  

Edited February 15, 2017 by Fonty

[Colman]

Yikes: I was planning to go direct to a tour of the ROH when we arrive in London in April, expecting to be able to put bags in the cloakroom. Not helpful.