ROH should nip this habit in the bud

[bridiem]

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.'

 

 

Well they clearly don't apply this rule with any rigour (if at all) - last night the man next to us had a large rucksack with him that he managed to push under his seat (and he left it there unattended during the interval...). Irritating to make apparently restrictive rules that inconvenience those who obey them, but then not actually implement them. How did he even get his rucksack into the building, in light of the above statement? And it must have been seen by countless staff after he did enter the building. So is the statement really designed simply to deter rather than prevent??

Edited February 15, 2017 by bridiem

[LinMM]

It's the interval times which annoy me....but it's the same at Sadlers and the Coli as well.

A bell or trumpet or whatever sounds for you to retake your seats and then we are all sitting there twiddling out thumbs waiting for the programme to restart.

So a 25 min interval becomes nearly 35 mins and 30 min interval becomes nearly 40 and so on.

But the end time probably doesn't include curtain calls so if you like to stay to the very end then add ten mins on to the published finishing time ....well at the ROH at any rate.

[penelopesimpson]

I've noticed that if they are Filming, the start is ALWAYS late

[alison]

I've always thought the ROH timings do include an allowance for curtain calls?  OTOH, what is shown at the door and on the website can be two different things.

[JennyTaylor]

I had a huge row with the ROH when they posted their policy.  I usually come straight from work and always deposited my wheelie bag containing heavy laptop in Aisle H in the cloakroom - no problem. Job done.  Picked it up perfectly at the end of the performance -less than 1 minute wait.

 

Then I saw the policy - and flipped. Basically I need my wheelie for my heavy laptop.  I can't carry it - it breaks my back.  They said they had been advised by the police that this was the new policy.  I flipped again and ended up trying to carry a briefcase with laptop and really struggled during the day to do so. I don't go in the office every day and have no storage facilities there - we are totally mobile workers. The thought of being turned away really freaked me. In the end they gave in and said there was room - which there patently is.   

 

That being said, the move to all cloakrooms and toilets being downstairs is appalling. Huge queues and delays for both.  I went today (no bag) and the queue to get downstairs just to the toilets was dreadful.  I know the back way so circumnavigated but even so........  The rebuilding appears to make it much worse, not  better. I always found the cloakroom facilities really convenient and quick.  Now I will try to avoid them 

[zxDaveM]

they are only temp measures, whilst they revamp the ground floor foyer (and the Linbury). So hopefully, this situation won't last forever. As I always stand, its OK for me - I can just pop my bag and coat under my feet or against the wall behind me (if there is a wee alcove there), so its not affecting me too badly.

Feel for everyone that is though - but I'm sure the FoH staff are doing their best to accomodate everyone

[MAB]

Just a reminder that a minority of patrons travel considerable distances to get to ROH, whether with overnight bags because they can't get home after a performance or those that travel from overseas specifically to watch a ballet/opera.  Their needs should be considered too.  The cloakroom staff at the Bastille didn't blink an eyelid when I deposited a suitcase with them after getting caught in a Parisian traffic jam that prevented me from going to my hotel first.  There is an acceptance in major houses that they are there to accommodate international patrons as well as a local audience.  The ROH should learn from example, the idea that someone fresh off the plane from New York (for example) should be told to take their luggage elsewhere truly shocks me.

[GTL]

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

Yesterday's Sunday Times carried an article attributing the ban on large bags at many cultural venues to the expectation of a suitcase bomb attack.

[Fonty]

As has been mentioned before, some women carry handbags that are the size of small suitcases.

[Jan McNulty]

On Saturday afternoon I was talking to lady at the temporary cloakroom at the back of the stalls.  She advised me to take my rather bulky coat in as there would be a queue at the end and I needed to be away quickly.  Just as well I did because the performance ended around 10 minutes late.

[GTL]

As has been mentioned before, some women carry handbags that are the size of small suitcases.

Guilty, and I am grateful the ROH staff are as accomodating as they are. The National Theatre has at various times of heightened tension limited handbags in the auditorium to evening bag size, which I find a real nuisance, but my point is that there is a bigger picture in this uncertain world.