Quintus Posted March 11, 2015 Share Posted March 11, 2015 To break the cycle of retrospective recrimination I'll apologise in advance to anyone at Sadlers Wells tonight for having had a vindaloo and a packet of peanuts. Row L and behind should be OK. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quintus Posted March 11, 2015 Share Posted March 11, 2015 Apology not needed as lady next to me has taken a bath in perfume. I think it's 'Pine Forest' by Febreze 7 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LinMM Posted March 12, 2015 Share Posted March 12, 2015 I'd better be sparing with the Rose Eau de toilette I sometimes use then......don't want anyone passing out. Â Beryl Brighton Station is a NIGHTMARE at the moment. Â The Sam happened to me a couple of weeks back when coming back one Wednesday evening.....where the hell was bus stop D.....the only one the message said that buses were going from. Eventually found it halfway down Queens Road....slight exaggeration but it felt like it when I knew the last 27 would be round the corner any minute!! Actually you have to laugh ......that night I'd also had a problem in London .....the bus went sailing past the Highbury and Islington Station only to be told by the driver that the bus stop there was out of action .......they're doing something to the rail bridge there......so had to run back to the tube as again against the clock on getting to Victoria to get the train that links with the last 27 Phew I feel exhausted all over again just remembering it all!! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coated Posted March 13, 2015 Share Posted March 13, 2015 And the building work at Highbury & Islington will apparently take 2 years, so if you use the station be prepared for those type of shenanigans until 2017... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beryl H Posted March 13, 2015 Share Posted March 13, 2015 I'd better be sparing with the Rose Eau de toilette I sometimes use then......don't want anyone passing out.  Beryl Brighton Station is a NIGHTMARE at the moment.  The Sam happened to me a couple of weeks back when coming back one Wednesday evening.....where the hell was bus stop D.....the only one the message said that buses were going from. Eventually found it halfway down Queens Road....slight exaggeration but it felt like it when I knew the last 27 would be round the corner any minute!! Actually you have to laugh ......that night I'd also had a problem in London .....the bus went sailing past the Highbury and Islington Station only to be told by the driver that the bus stop there was out of action .......they're doing something to the rail bridge there......so had to run back to the tube as again against the clock on getting to Victoria to get the train that links with the last 27 Phew I feel exhausted all over again just remembering it all!!  Things went better on Wednesday as I decided to get the 6 bus into Brighton and see where it eventually stopped, and it is the only bus that now stops right in front of the station amidst the roadworks, all the others stop down Queens Road as you said.  The new ticket office system is a complete shambles too, you need to choose one of 4 type tickets from a machine in order to buy a ticket and have to watch a screen or listen to announcements until your number is called, took me 30 minutes recently. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fonty Posted March 13, 2015 Share Posted March 13, 2015 The new ticket office system is a complete shambles too, you need to choose one of 4 type tickets from a machine in order to buy a ticket and have to watch a screen or listen to announcements until your number is called, took me 30 minutes recently.   What kind of "system" is that? The Argos experience? 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LinMM Posted March 13, 2015 Share Posted March 13, 2015 It's the one in North street in Brighton. It's very convenient as it's in the main shopping road(save having to go up to the station) but sometimes if you hit a busy period it can take ages. You punch in whether you want train bus coach etc and then it gives you a number. Ive learned by experience that if there are more than six people ahead of you ...you can expect to be about 20-30 mins waiting. Sometimes Ive walked in and see I'm the next person...rarer .....but great when it happens. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LinMM Posted March 13, 2015 Share Posted March 13, 2015 Sorry gone off topic a bit .....just one thing It does vary I admit ......but Ive found that on the whole the audience at Sadlers is slightly less well behaved than at the ROH. Not sure why that is though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
barton22 Posted March 14, 2015 Share Posted March 14, 2015 Ive found that on the whole the audience at Sadlers is slightly less well behaved than at the ROH. Not sure why that is though. Â Same here. Â I think part of it is that SW encourages/is lax about some unhelpful behaviour, such as eating and drinking in the auditorium during the performance, and so there is a bit more of a feeling that anything goes there. Â Last night in the stalls I was sat next to a guy who for each of the three ballets got himself a fresh gin and tonic with ice and a straw and sipped it noisily and constantly throughout each ballet. Â Â Once finished he then let the ice melt a bit and noisily slurped the melt water. Â So distracting, especially in ballets like the current ones where there are periods of silence and very quiet music throughout. Â He was clearly bored to death in the Forsythe and I think it gave him something to entertain himself with through that piece. Â The night before I had a staggeringly messy and distracting ice cream eater beside me in the first circle (at one stage I thought she was actually going to try to eat the plastic pot and lid, there seemed to be such a determined effort to lick every last calorie off it mid-performance). Â The ROH staff are often (and I find increasingly so) pretty wimpy about enforcing the rules but the Sadler's Wells people seem to make no attempt at all unless it is someone with a camera out in which case they shine a dazzling torch in the eyes of everyone within a twenty seat radius of their target and ruin a whole section of the performance for them. Â I am definitely in favour of not allowing food and drink in the auditorium because it so often proves a distraction and surely adults can get through 30 minutes of ballet without needing food and drink? Â I assume it is purely a revenue raising policy at SW. 7 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SPD444 Posted March 14, 2015 Share Posted March 14, 2015 I totally agree with barton22 about food and drink., whenever I visit the cinema I am amazed at the amount of food/drink people need to get through 90 minutes of a film. There is no place for food or drink in the auditorium. 7 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alison Posted March 14, 2015 Share Posted March 14, 2015 Except for the odd ice-cream - but NOT in a noisy cone, please! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fonty Posted March 15, 2015 Share Posted March 15, 2015 I went to see a play last Saturday afternoon, and I couldn't believe how many people were eating either sweets wrapped in noisy, crackly paper, or crunching their way through huge bags of crisps. As I was in the cheap seats up in the roof, at certain times I was having difficulty hearing the actors.  I wanted to shout out, "The play started at 2.30pm. Why didn't you find the time to eat lunch before you came?" 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
capybara Posted March 15, 2015 Share Posted March 15, 2015 There was a lot of "playing musical chairs" at the Modern Masters matinee yesterday afternoon with a changing cast of people moving into empty seats and others shifting along their rows once the ballets had started. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
barton22 Posted March 15, 2015 Share Posted March 15, 2015 Except for the odd ice-cream - but NOT in a noisy cone, please! Â The thing is, it isn't just the noise. Â It can be quite distracting having someone constantly moving right next to you, and so even someone moving their hands up and down eating an ice cream in a pot with a spoon is an issue. Â I don't see why people cannot eat their ice cream in the 20 or 25 minutes of the interval, even if they have had to queue for a while to buy it. 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LinMM Posted March 15, 2015 Share Posted March 15, 2015 I would ban all food and drink in the auditorium if I could 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jan McNulty Posted March 15, 2015 Author Share Posted March 15, 2015 Some people need to have some water with them and maybe something to soothe a throat/cough but other than that I agree that food and drink should be banned. Â It does my head in that some theatres allow drinks in containers other than lidded bottles. Â I have seen glasses knocked over before now and it is a real hazard for people getting in and out of rows. 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LinMM Posted March 15, 2015 Share Posted March 15, 2015 Yes I agree a discreet bottle of water and cough sweets etc as these may be necessary for medical reasons but all the rest can go!! Â I still can't get my head around why people can't wait for 30mins to an hour before having to eat and drink something! 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
barton22 Posted March 15, 2015 Share Posted March 15, 2015 Â I have seen glasses knocked over before now and it is a real hazard for people getting in and out of rows. Â It also means that it is risky to put your coat or bag under your seat at Sadler's Wells as if the person behind has a glass of wine, puts it on the floor (as many SW audience members seem to do) and knocks it over it will go all over your coat or bag. Â (I know there's a cloakroom, but who really wants to deal with the queue after the show?) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
2dancersmum Posted March 15, 2015 Share Posted March 15, 2015 I don't believe in the need for food and drink either and rarely take anything other than water in with me but for theatres and cinemas it surely makes economic sense. I read somewhere recently that for one of the UK cinema chains just under 40% of its revenue comes from sales of food, snacks, drinks etc. Its with food and drink that the theatres and cinemas have their biggest profit magins. Marketing advice is that the longer you have people in the building, the more they will spend and the more profit you can make. Hence the theatres with restaurants offering cheaper tickets as part of a meal + show deal. The discount given on the ticket is more than made up for by the profits on the food and drink sales. And once it becomes normal practice to eat and drink in the auditorium, then its expected more and more ..... unfortunately 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
taxi4ballet Posted March 15, 2015 Share Posted March 15, 2015 I notice that a thread has appeared on the 'Am I being unreasonable' section of Mumsnet today entitled "Noisy theatre picnickers". 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quintus Posted March 16, 2015 Share Posted March 16, 2015 At Sadlers Wells the pre-performance warning message about mobile phones specifically mentions the distracting light from texting - other venues such as the Coliseum would do well to emulate that, as their warning is just a brief trill which gets drowned out in the general crowd murmuring. This obsessive texting is the thing that has largely put me off going to the cinema. I am venturing out to the streaming of Swan lake tomorrow evening - I noticed a large block booking in the seating plan and hope to heaven it isn't a school party. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Mallinson Posted March 16, 2015 Share Posted March 16, 2015 I don't believe in the need for food and drink either and rarely take anything other than water in with me but for theatres and cinemas it surely makes economic sense. I read somewhere recently that for one of the UK cinema chains just under 40% of its revenue comes from sales of food, snacks, drinks etc. Its with food and drink that the theatres and cinemas have their biggest profit margins.…  This is another topic really but I noticed today that the ROH, once an opera house but now an eaterie, offers seven different troughing areas:  Amphitheatre Bar Paul Hamlyn Hall Bar Balconies Restaurant Crush Room Amphitheatre Restaurant Paul Hamlyn Hall Bar Supper Tray Area (Pre-Show) Paul Hamlyn Hall Supper Tray Area (Interval)  At least the auditorium doesn't (yet) feature on that list. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fonty Posted March 16, 2015 Share Posted March 16, 2015  I used to enjoy getting a drink from the Crush Bar, because I could stand and admire the magnificent chandelier at the same time.  I was quite upset when I found that it was now a restaurant area, and the drinkers had been moved into the conservatory on the side. I think even that is now set up for eating? 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alison Posted March 16, 2015 Share Posted March 16, 2015 This is another topic really but I noticed today that the ROH, once an opera house but now an eaterie, offers seven different troughing areas:  Amphitheatre Bar Paul Hamlyn Hall Bar Balconies Restaurant Crush Room Amphitheatre Restaurant Paul Hamlyn Hall Bar Supper Tray Area (Pre-Show) Paul Hamlyn Hall Supper Tray Area (Interval)  I've been given to understand that there is actually - whisper it - somewhere where one is allowed to sit down! For the moment, that is, until the restauration areas expand even more. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alison Posted March 16, 2015 Share Posted March 16, 2015 I noticed that, despite all the Festival Hall's standard "please turn off your phone" announcements, in last night's Radio 3 live broadcast someone's phone still managed to go off just as we hit the quiet bit of the piano concerto. It was what I think of as a "1940s"-style ring, i.e. a sustained single-note peal. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quintus Posted March 19, 2015 Share Posted March 19, 2015 The Italian ladies next to me on the Balcony at the Coliseum tonight have just brought out their sandwiches for the interval . Not doing any harm, just amused me.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LinMM Posted March 19, 2015 Share Posted March 19, 2015 Alison that must have been annoying! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ellie Posted March 19, 2015 Share Posted March 19, 2015 Last week we went to a cinema screening of Ballet 422. I started grumbling under my breath when people started to enter the room with buckets of popcorn /sweets/drinks and then as they decided to swap seats /greet friends/chat....My husband very sweetly turned to me and asked if I would prefer for him to hire the cinema for my exclusive use next time.....(I think that maybe I was being a bit too grumpy...maybe  ) 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LinMM Posted March 19, 2015 Share Posted March 19, 2015 Can he hire it for just you and me Ellie!!! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ellie Posted March 19, 2015 Share Posted March 19, 2015 As long as you don't bring popcorn Lin !!! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LinMM Posted March 19, 2015 Share Posted March 19, 2015 Absolutely NO chance!! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coated Posted March 19, 2015 Share Posted March 19, 2015 The only thing worse than a seat snatcher is a clumsy seat snatcher. A spacially unaware lady with many bags had 3 failed attemps in the Coli dress circle tonight, first trying to snatch an aisle seat from an older lady with a walking stick, then squeezing in next to me for a minute (spinning some yarn about not wanting to make people in her row get up...only there were no other spaces in that row....) and kind of sitting on me when attempting to sit sideways for viewing comfort. Thankfully she spotted a better seat and rushed over there for the first half, bags a-knocking everywhere. For the second half, that seat was taken, so she plonked herself somewhere in the front row, only to be evicted again a couple of minutes before curtain up. Never seen anyone so blatant about it. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
neil Posted March 20, 2015 Share Posted March 20, 2015 You'd think after her first couple of attempts she'd just slink back to her actual seat. Some people have no shame. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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