Audience Behaviour

[SusanR]

Ah yes, the cinema I was referring to was the Komedia in Brighton!Thanks for reminding me,Beryl.

Susan

[LinMM]

Well perhaps the people choosing to see ballet at the Odeon are slightly different than the norm of course....so am sure were reasonably well behaved ....some friends went to see Giselle last week I'll ask what their experience was.

 

If the Komedia is showing these performances I will definitely investigate as I like smaller cinemas and usually people go to these because they really want to see the film too.

 

I refuse to ever go to the cinema in the Brighton Marina ever again after a couple of bad experiences there!!

 

I still think I would only use the cinema for foreign company performances though like the Bolshoi or ABT

[alison]

We do have a lovely arty cinema here The Duke of Yorks but haven't seen these ballet showings being offered there or I would go.

Odd - I thought all the Picturehouse chain showed the Bolshoi ones, and the RB, for that matter?

[LinMM]

They may do now Alison I need to find out.

 

The friends who,saw Giselle last week saw it at the Odeon in town not the Duke of York but I will check it all out.

[VickyPage]

The audience at She Said were frustrating last night. They seemed unable to go for even an hour without eating, so M-Dao opened to a cacophony of rustling as various people delved into snacks. Couldn't they do that in the interval? Were they still eating from the interval? I don't know, but it was bloody annoying.

[bridiem]

And for the first time at She Said last night I sat near some people who brought drinks in with them. So the smell of beer drifted around me all evening, which I really don't like (either beer or the smell!). I understand allowing drinks at a cinema, but not in a live performance - a live performance demands total concentration from the audience, who are the crucial 'other half' in creating the atmosphere for a great performance. If the audience is busy eating or drinking, or being distracted by smells and sounds of food and drink, it really ruins the point of live theatre.

[zxDaveM]

Well, I love beer, but with you on this bridiem. It never ceases to amaze me that people cannot sit still for an hour or two without the need (compulsion?) to eat and drink at the same time.

[John Mallinson]

You should tell them what you think:

 

Sadler's Wells aims to maintain the highest standards in all aspects of its work. Feedback and comments are greatly appreciated and crucial to us achieving this.

 

Before, during and after your visit, our Front of House Teams will do their utmost to ensure you have the best experience possible. Our staff are more than happy to assist should you have any concerns or queries.

 

Customers wishing to offer written feedback are asked to address their email or letter to Britannia Morton - Chief Operating Officer and send this to either of the below:

 

Email: feedback@sadlerswells.com

Post: Visitor Services Department

Sadler's Wells

Rosebery Avenue

London

EC1R 4TN

 

We consider all comments and feedback very carefully, logging each message and reporting issues to the relevant departments. We will make investigations where appropriate and respond as soon as we can.

[SusanR]

Well, I did, John.

A couple of years ago I was at SW's & the girl next to me was having a picnic....she kept rustling into her bag to retrieve nuts, sweets, drinks etc. I was furious & emailed SW's. Result? Nothing! I really detest the fact that they allow food/drink into the theatre.

Susan

[Jamesrhblack]

Thankfully, the ROH holds firmly to its no food or drink in the auditorium principle.

[Coated]

The day the ROH changes that policy will be the day when I start dropping anchovies all over the place. That will take care of the upholstery and any odour issues in the auditorium, particularly if I manage to wedge a few of my fishy friends between floorboards. Hopefully that will also get me barred, so I won't end up asphyxiating crisp eating audience members with a cornish pasty wrapper.

Edited April 16, 2016 by Coated

[SusanR]

Oh that made me laugh out loud, Coated.

Susan

[John Mallinson]

But Coated, you can get going now. The first thing that greets you as you ascend to the Floral Hall before a performance is the smell of fish…

[Quintus]

I wish the Coli would ban drinks too; on our last outing there, the women next to us put their large glasses of wine on the floor then kicked them over on their way out in the interval. Having snatched my coat, as usual under my seat, from the approaching puddle, we told the usher, who marshalled up a wad of tissues and muttered darkly about slip hazards. When the women returned they didn't even notice their glasses of wine had gone..

[zxDaveM]

Well, I did, John.

A couple of years ago I was at SW's & the girl next to me was having a picnic....she kept rustling into her bag to retrieve nuts, sweets, drinks etc. I was furious & emailed SW's. Result? Nothing! I really detest the fact that they allow food/drink into the theatre.

Susan

 

 

I was at Sad Wells this afternoon, and I think I was one of about half a dozen who DIDN'T have a drink and/or nibbles. Think we're fighting a losing battle...   :-(

[zxDaveM]

But Coated, you can get going now. The first thing that greets you as you ascend to the Floral Hall before a performance is the smell of fish…

 

I know! A gag reflex has to be overcome - and a scurry up to the odour free outdoors on the amphi bar veranda (well, near odour free, we used to get the occasional waft of seared beef from the restaurant opposite - but that's closed at the mo, behind all those mirrors as they redevelop)

 

Hmmm - that answer was longer than the pithy one intended!  :-)

[zxDaveM]

I wish the Coli would ban drinks too; on our last outing there, the women next to us put their large glasses of wine on the floor then kicked them over on their way out in the interval. Having snatched my coat, as usual under my seat, from the approaching puddle, we told the usher, who marshalled up a wad of tissues and muttered darkly about slip hazards. When the women returned they didn't even notice their glasses of wine had gone..

 

Ah - when someone sneaks in a glass or a bottle into the ROH Stalls - and then inevitably kicks it over, that loud rumbling roll across the wooden downhill floorboards. Atmosphere - gone

[Lenore]

I haven't had issues with drinks before, although I've only seen people with wine occasionally. The worst food experience was when I went to see Bournes SB at the Bristol Hippodrome... The lady behind me opened a stick of salami half way through one of the acts & the smell was so strong I nearly gagged

[LinMM]

Well I went a bit senior at Sadlers Wells on Wednesday.

 

The young lady (well to me) sitting next to me put a drink down towards MY side of the seat. I was discreetly moving it back towards her seat when she caught me. I did smile ....well she didn't look like the enemy I was projecting her to be .....and said that I was just really worried I might knock it over.

Her reply was "do you know what love there's plenty more where that came from so I really wouldn't worry about it I can just go and get another one."

 

After one of the intervals her and her friend came back in with renewed drinks and the dreaded crisps but surprisingly she must have got the eating of them down to a fine art as I didn't hear a thing! So I didn't have to fire myself up to do my "irritated old bird from Brighton" bit.

 

It's just so nice at the ROH without all this food and drink going on.

[nickwellings]

I was at Sadler's yesterday afternoon. Two seats next to me were empty. I thought maybe their owners had decided not to come.

 

Nope. About 2 minutes into Broken Wings, the usher brings two people into the auditorium, blinds me with his torch, whispers sorry a few times as the couple barge past me. They then of course have to awkwardly and noisily undress their layers of outerwear, and whilst doing so they decide to swig a few drinks, loudly whisper.

 

The whispering carried on throughout. Then the guy gets his phone out about 30 minutes in. I say 'can you put your phone away please?' and get a blank look from the girlfriend. He carries on and I ask again. He keeps going, and I am so annoyed I make to grab his phone. 'I'm texting my mum' he says. He finishes quickly. The whispering stops. At interval they look for other seats but don't find them.

 

Medea began as the next piece and another blue glowing rectangle flashes up, this time in the gantry over the second circle,right in my eyeline! A member of staff/tech team having a lazy browse on eBay maybe.

 

I sent a complaint to Sadler's

[SusanR]

I was at Sadler's yesterday afternoon. Two seats next to me were empty. I thought maybe their owners had decided not to come.well, good luck with that!

 

Nope. About 2 minutes into Broken Wings, the usher brings two people into the auditorium, blinds me with his torch, whispers sorry a few times as the couple barge past me. They then of course have to awkwardly and noisily undress their layers of outerwear, and whilst doing so they decide to swig a few drinks, loudly whisper.

 

The whispering carried on throughout. Then the guy gets his phone out about 30 minutes in. I say 'can you put your phone away please?' and get a blank look from the girlfriend. He carries on and I ask again. He keeps going, and I am so annoyed I make to grab his phone. 'I'm texting my mum' he says. He finishes quickly. The whispering stops. At interval they look for other seats but don't find them.

 

Medea began as the next piece and another blue glowing rectangle flashes up, this time in the gantry over the second circle,right in my eyeline! A member of staff/tech team having a lazy browse on eBay maybe.

 

I sent a complaint to Sadler's

Edited April 17, 2016 by SusanR

[SusanR]

Well, good luck with that!

Susan.

Sorry, I can't seem to add my message to the quote......what am I doing wrong?

[zxDaveM]

Well, good luck with that!

Susan.

Sorry, I can't seem to add my message to the quote......what am I doing wrong?

 

Your cursor should end up in the white bit just outside the box containing the quote. Start typing in there, not in the box (Click on there to get a cursor if you don't have one)

You can practice in the 'Test' forum

[SusanR]

Thanks for that Dave.

Susan

[alison]

Thankfully, the ROH holds firmly to its no food or drink in the auditorium principle.

 

As long as the ushers spot it getting in there, which they clearly didn't with the sandwich-eater I mentioned the other week.

[Sim]

_{I was at She Said on Thursday evening and I was also dismayed by the cinema-like atmosphere at SW.  I was in the back row of the first circle, with a lot of youngish people sitting next to me.  Just before Broken Wings started they all arrived, beer in one hand and muffins or bags of sweets in the other.  I therefore had to put up with the smell of beer, eating and rustling paper right until the interval.  At one point, during a quiet bit, the rustling kept going so I leaned over and hissed very loudly so it stopped.} 

 

_{This is one of the reasons that I almost never attend performances at SW anymore.  It is more like going to the cinema than to a live performance.  Do they allow all this because they think it is the only way to encourage young people to come and see dance?  I think they would come anyway.  My daughter is 25 and can manage to sit for less than an hour without eating and drinking and disturbing other people.} 

 

_{Or, more likely, they make a lot of money by letting people take food and drink into the auditorium.  To hell with the audience members who might be disturbed by the smells and sounds of people eating and drinking.} 

[RuthE]

_{I was at She Said on Thursday evening and I was also dismayed by the cinema-like atmosphere at SW.  I was in the back row of the first circle, with a lot of youngish people sitting next to me.  Just before Broken Wings started they all arrived, beer in one hand and muffins or bags of sweets in the other.  I therefore had to put up with the smell of beer, eating and rustling paper right until the interval.  At one point, during a quiet bit, the rustling kept going so I leaned over and hissed very loudly so it stopped.} 

 

_{This is one of the reasons that I almost never attend performances at SW anymore.  It is more like going to the cinema than to a live performance.  Do they allow all this because they think it is the only way to encourage young people to come and see dance?  I think they would come anyway.  My daughter is 25 and can manage to sit for less than an hour without eating and drinking and disturbing other people.} 

 

It's not just a case of Sadler's Wells *letting* people in with snacks - it's the fact that they themselves sell those snacks, with no apparent regard to the noisiness of either the consumption process or the packaging.  It's been a bugbear of mine for years at SW and to a lesser extent the Peacock.

 

I was at the ROH on Saturday afternoon for Winter's Tale, and then at SW in the evening for She Said, and the contrast between the two in terms of rustling and chewing from the moment the lights went down made it all the more noticeable.  Fortunately I had a front row seat, so at least I didn't have people's mobile phones in my sightline.

 

Though - I can't recall if I've told this story here before - I was recently witness (at a non-British theatre) to a woman sitting in the front row of the stalls at an opera, directly behind the conductor, messing around with her iPad during the performance

 

I also once sat next to somebody in the middle of the front row at the Coliseum - for an ENB show - whose phone was playing music out loud, was apparently "broken" so he couldn't switch it of, and he thought I, his other neighbours and the conductor wouldn't mind if he just put it in the bottom of his bag so it could "barely be heard" Luckily this transpired BEFORE the performance started, and we pretty much bodily chucked him out and ordered him to leave it in the cloakroom.  He didn't come back...

[alison]

It's not just a case of Sadler's Wells *letting* people in with snacks - it's the fact that they themselves sell those snacks, with no apparent regard to the noisiness of either the consumption process or the packaging.  It's been a bugbear of mine for years at SW and to a lesser extent the Peacock.

 

And I seem to remember some years ago complaining about the Mayflower, Southampton selling either popcorn or very rustly sweets   I don't mind them selling the things (well, I *do* popcorn, because it's nauseating), but for heaven's sake either sell them in something that doesn't rustle, or give the people buying them something to decant them into.  I remember the New Victoria Theatre in Woking used to do pick + mix, which was much better, because there probably weren't any wrappers to unwrap.

[SusanR]

_{I was at She Said on Thursday evening and I was also dismayed by the cinema-like atmosphere at SW. I was in the back row of the first circle, with a lot of youngish people sitting next to me. Just before Broken Wings started they all arrived, beer in one hand and muffins or bags of sweets in the other. I therefore had to put up with the smell of beer, eating and rustling paper right until the interval. At one point, during a quiet bit, the rustling kept going so I leaned over and hissed very loudly so it stopped.}

 

_{This is one of the reasons that I almost never attend performances at SW anymore. It is more like going to the cinema than to a live performance. Do they allow all this because they think it is the only way to encourage young people to come and see dance? I think they would come anyway. My daughter is 25 and can manage to sit for less than an hour without eating and drinking and disturbing other people.}

 

_{Or, more likely, they make a lot of money by letting people take food and drink into the auditorium. To hell with the audience members who might be disturbed by the smells and sounds of people eating and drinking.}

I hate all these distractions in the cinema too! I actually pay to see a film & don't understand when people cannot sit for a couple of hours without eating.If I am hungry, which could be the case if I have travelled a distance, I always wait for an appropriate moment to eat, either the interval if in a theatre or afterwards when seeing a film. I have complained to SW's too but, frankly, they don't give a damn.

Susan

[RuthE]

The other annoying thing at SW is the fact that they have one of the clearest mobile-phone announcements in London (something like "Please ensure your phone is completely turned off, as the light is distracting to others") so people can't even say they weren't told. They JUST don't give a sh*t.

[Coated]

I gave up on SW ushers when I had to walk past one mid performance to get a girl to stop filming with her mobile raised up high enough to be right in my sightline. I did have an aisle seat, but I think I was grumpy enough at that point that I might have thrown things at her if I'd been mid-row. The most annoying thing was that I'd asked that very usher in the intermission to make sure that the girl won't film again, even gave her the exact seat number.

[Tony Newcombe]

The other thing that annoys me at the Wells is their inability to stick to the quoted time schedule.

[trog]

On the train this morning, there was a teenager with his phone playing "music" (you know that annoying tinny tsch tsch sound) and his mate across the aisle said something like "That's badass". I was about to hop up and tell him to turn it off, when a large chap stood next to him and started singing "Nessun Dorma" very loudly. I shouted "How, that IS badass". The teenager took the hint