ROH no under 5 rule how enforced is it?

[Elly94]

Long story short how strictly enforced is the no under 5s policy at ROH, like will they ask for a birth certificate or ID a child before allowing them in?

Long story:

Daughter is currently just over 3 and a half years old and is just as obsessed with going to watch ballets as doing it which obviously with her age is pretty tricky. She's sat perfectly still and mesmerized through ENB my first swan lake and LCB secret garden (not even leaving the theatres during intervals) plus other dance performances we've been to see so I know she definitely wouldn't be disruptive. We've got our Christmas ballets lined up (The Snowman at Sadlers Wells and ENB Nutcracker at the Colosseum family performance) but took a look at Cinderella at ROH which is showing suitable for all. Expanding the guidance it still says no under 5's but then there is a family performance which the q&a 'encourages families to bring children over 5'. This got me thinking is this likely to be the same for the Northern Ballet Hansel and Grettel there to in May, which I'd love to take her to see as she loves the others on cBeebies, by then she'd be about 4yrs 3 months but would they still have a no under 5s. And then thinking further to next Christmas where she'd be about 4yrs 10months if something took our fancy. Obviously wouldn't ever take her into something that wasn't child appropriate or suitable for all but would they "ID" her for entry. She is tall and mature looking for her age but know that's not the point just wouldn't want to book anything and risk not even being able to get in. 

Edited September 2 by Elly94

[Emeralds]

I've come across this situation too ( child who has been impeccably well behaved at other performances with no minimum age limit). They know parents/ grandparents/ carers won't be bringing along a birth certificate or passport to the theatre so they won't ask for ID.

 

Some children look big/ small/ short/ tall for their age so if the child is walking, looks well behaved and can look like 5 or 6 years old convincingly they won't even ask. But if the child is a toddler or infant being carried in the arms of a grown up or in a pushchair, or is visibly noisy and restless, then they probably would ..... 

 

Actually I thought the most likely way they would "ID" the child would be if they asked the child how old he/she was! (Most children usually answer truthfully at this age.) I'd suggest instructing your child to say "I'm sorry, I'm not allowed to talk to strangers". (We did!) 

[Jan McNulty]

9 hours ago, Elly94 said:

Long story short how strictly enforced is the no under 5s policy at ROH, like will they ask for a birth certificate or ID a child before allowing them in?

Long story:

Daughter is currently just over 3 and a half years old and is just as obsessed with going to watch ballets as doing it which obviously with her age is pretty tricky. She's sat perfectly still and mesmerized through ENB my first swan lake and LCB secret garden (not even leaving the theatres during intervals) plus other dance performances we've been to see so I know she definitely wouldn't be disruptive. We've got our Christmas ballets lined up (The Snowman at Sadlers Wells and ENB Nutcracker at the Colosseum family performance) but took a look at Cinderella at ROH which is showing suitable for all. Expanding the guidance it still says no under 5's but then there is a family performance which the q&a 'encourages families to bring children over 5'. This got me thinking is this likely to be the same for the Northern Ballet Hansel and Grettel there to in May, which I'd love to take her to see as she loves the others on cBeebies, by then she'd be about 4yrs 3 months but would they still have a no under 5s. And then thinking further to next Christmas where she'd be about 4yrs 10months if something took our fancy. Obviously wouldn't ever take her into something that wasn't child appropriate or suitable for all but would they "ID" her for entry. She is tall and mature looking for her age but know that's not the point just wouldn't want to book anything and risk not even being able to get in. 

 

It shouldn't happen with Hansel and Gretel.  I've seen most of Northern Ballet's children's productions at the company HQ and other North West venues and have seen toddlers of around 2.  Most of the children have been engrossed and impeccably behaved.

 

As I don't go with a child I tend to sit towards the back so I am not impeding anyone's view.

[Balletbloke]

I'm sure the RB have this rule for a very good reason, therefore I would be inclined to respect it.

[LinMM]

I agree….as your child is 3!
I know it must be very annoying when you know you have a reasonably mature child for their age but it’s not too long to wait! There are quite a few shows now aimed at younger children ( which I often fancy myself) so best to take full advantage of those currently ( as it seems you are) 

 

It is difficult though as these days children are asked to start school in the YEAR that they’re 5 ( used to be the TERM that they’re 5) so many 4 year olds and some only just 4 are included. So when your child reaches 4 it may be harder not to cheat the rules ….so do have sympathy! 
The problem is not all children are equally mature but I assume Parents can take the lead here and know if their child is ready for a two hour plus show at the theatre. 

 

There used to be a lovely puppet theatre ( the ones on strings) at the Angel in Islington within walking distance of where I lived then but they wouldn’t let adults with no children with them enter! 
Luckily as a teacher I did get to see their shows eventually and then again with a friends children!! 
They also had two shows one aimed at under 5’s and one at 5-7’s and older children were not allowed into the under 5’s and vice versa!! So very strict ( the venue was quite small though) 

I often fancied going to a show there on my own but was not able to though I would have been very well behaved lol!! 
 

 

[oncnp]

In my experience (and numerous other threads on the Forum) the ROH is distressingly lax on enforcing its "House Rules".  I have had occasions where there was no staff at the door to even check tickets. 

 

If you need a booster seat for the child, chances are you will have to interact with someone.  Are you going to lie if asked about the child's age? 

[MAB]

4 minutes ago, oncnp said:

In my experience (and numerous other threads on the Forum) the ROH is distressingly lax on enforcing its "House Rules".  I have had occasions where there was no staff at the door to even check tickets. 

 

Indeed and telling people without a valid ticket to get out of your seat becomes doubly difficult because of lack of staff.  

[OnePigeon]

I do sympathise and she may well be fine, but it’s a lot longer to sit still than the ballets aimed specifically at little ones and she might find the length of the whole experience a little tiring.  I’m sure she’ll be fine next year at nearly 5  - better and less stressful to wait a year when you can go more comfortably and she will have already seen her first full length ballet at the Coliseum.  I took my son to lots of Julia Donaldson type performances when he was that age and he was good as gold and sat still, but I wouldn’t have risked taking him into London for a 3 hour ballet with the risk of tiredness, hunger, toilet breaks, fidgeting, talking, random freak outs etc.  One extra year of maturity and a year of school would be a safer bet.  You could always show her Cinderella on the stream for now.

[Emeralds]

@Elly94, Northern Ballet's Hansel and Gretel production at the Linbury is for age 3 and above so your daughter is more than old enough to attend. (I was surprised that you were even asking as NB's children's ballets are normally for very young children so I went to double check.) ROH does not have the specific information for it on its website yet, but it is unlikely to be a totally different age limit to other venues on the tour - or indeed past children's ballets regularly staged by Northern Ballet at Linbury Theatre.

 

I am not sure if you are still thinking of taking your daughter to Cinderella at ROH. There is a Relaxed Performance on 14 December and a Family Friendly Performance on 31 Dec- it is worth you emailing them to discuss if these would apply to you both. However,  even if they say yes, there's a small possibility that your daughter might be so attentive and well behaved (she sounds better behaves than a lot of adults that attend Royal Ballet performances!) that she might find it a bit too disruptive and casual at these performances....in which case it might be better to wait till she is older? Or the front of house team might say that since she is almost 5 they will allow her into a normal performance. 

 

So - she is eligible for the Hansel and Gretel performances. If you are interested in taking her to Cinderella, I'd advise you to email the front of house/box office team. They're good at replying to these kinds of queries efficiently. 

[Sophoife]

Huh if the ROH had enforced "no under fives" in December 1969 I wouldn't have been started on the slippery and expensive slope that is ballet-going. I didn't turn four until February 1970.

[Elly94]

Thanks everyone for your replies. Very glad we should be ok for Hansel and Grettel as that was my biggest worry that it would still be under the restriction especially when the Cinderella 'family performance' still appeared to be over 5 which I haven't experienced elsewhere (and the sessions I choose with her age).

This year's Cinderella was definitely more of an example, I definitely wouldn't want to be "pretending" she was 5 at this point, I already had the dates for the cinema screening of it saved so we should still be able to enjoy the magic of it without the worry of restriction! Next year I definitely think I would speak with them if the Christmas performance was something we would be interested in seeing especially if we looked at dates at the start of Jan as she'd literally be under a month from 5. 

[Emeralds]

6 hours ago, Sophoife said:

Huh if the ROH had enforced "no under fives" in December 1969 I wouldn't have been started on the slippery and expensive slope that is ballet-going. I didn't turn four until February 1970.

I don't think the rule was around then, Sophoife- or it might have been a different age limit. Certainly the current minimum 5 years old rule is fairly recent. I remember one of the children in our extended family was "old enough" at 2 ballets before the rule existed, and was very well behaved, stayed awake throughout, enjoyed the ballets, fully attentive, etc but the next season was apparently "several months too young". 😄 

Edited September 3 by Emeralds

[Geoff]

As a parent of several children, and as a ballet (and theatre and opera) attendee of over half a century, might I offer a rule of thumb that is not based on numerical age but on temperament, development and the mood of the moment. If the child is going to want/need to sit on the accompanying adult’s lap (from the beginning of the show or after it has started) don’t consider attending Covent Garden. If you know they will sit quietly in their own seat throughout as well as not needing to leave during the performance (except at the intervals) then they are unusual and so you might like to make the case to staff in advance.

 

Otherwise just wait until they are older. None of my (now adult) children can remember anything they saw before about the age of five in any case, except perhaps the time a magician brought a rabbit to a birthday party. 
 

And if you are with a child who for whatever reason is not behaving properly, perhaps unpredictably so (maybe you have never seen them like that before), remember that you are responsible and take them out as soon as is practical. No sitting quiet yourself hoping things will improve, no whispered negotiations - just silently up and out in a convenient break. Don’t consider bringing them back either, things won’t improve. 
 

This approach would have done a lot to mitigate all kinds of trouble I have observed over the years. 

[Pas de Quatre]

I agree with Geoff, but if you do take someone so young, book end of row seats so you can make a quick exit if needed.

[Sophoife]

16 hours ago, Emeralds said:

I don't think the rule was around then, Sophoife- or it might have been a different age limit. Certainly the current minimum 5 years old rule is fairly recent. I remember one of the children in our extended family was "old enough" at 2 ballets before the rule existed, and was very well behaved, stayed awake throughout, enjoyed the ballets, fully attentive, etc but the next season was apparently "several months too young". 😄 

 

I have three nieces born to three of my sisters in a six-month spread. The middle one was beautifully behaved (shushed her father 🤭) at 4y6m, the eldest so not ready at 6, the youngest (actually at the ROH) beautifully behaved at 4y10m.

 

[LinMM]

Well a line has to be drawn somewhere as unfortunately some parents don’t seem to be able to do it for themselves for their own children! 
I don’t think it’s unreasonable to set the school starting age 5 as the lower age limit for shows at the ROH which mostly last two and a half to three hours!! There are very few four year olds (and younger)  that seriously into ballet or opera! 
 

[Jan McNulty]

Parental "suggestion" seems to have gone out of the window anyway!  I was in my favourite cafe yesterday and there was a family with a couple of screeching children disrupting the whole place.  Let's not go there with my experience at an outside table at the cafe in Dunham Massey a couple of weeks ago!!

 

There were lots of very well behaved children around at DM apart from the couple of ladies with a few youngsters in the cafe.

[Sophoife]

9 hours ago, LinMM said:

I don’t think it’s unreasonable to set the school starting age 5 as the lower age limit for shows at the ROH which mostly last two and a half to three hours!! 

 

Oh, that AusBallet shows would last that long!! We've had several 90-minute including interval shows in the last few years!

 

First ballet December 1969, first day of Proper School (not kinder) January 1970, fourth birthday February 1970. Mum had three younger children and was only too happy to get rid of the eldest for most of the day!!

[LinMM]

Well of course I was talking about time spent at the theatre not how long the actual dancing lasts!
The ROH has usually 25-30 min intervals between Ballets or between Acts in Ballets. 
When I go the Programme starts at 7.30 and I rarely leave the Theatre before 10pm except when it’s Nutcracker. If it’s Swan Lake it will

be 10.30pm! 

Then it’s the trek home. 
Even with a 5 year old wouldn’t want to do this too often though a matinee might be better!! 

[Emeralds]

I was puzzling over @Sophoifecommenting "first day of Proper School (not kinder) January " and kept wondering why school in January would not be kind as opposed to any other month, and then I realised (after too many minutes) that "kinder" meant "kindergarten"!  😄 

[Sophoife]

Yes, sorry, kindergarten. I'd done that in Port Moresby for six months, I couldn't wait to get in to my bottle-green uniform, plait my hair (two plaits please), tie my tie, put my satchel over my shoulder, and go!

 

As you can imagine, I was tiny but I was the only child in the class who could read, and write more than my name. Mum taught me, she said it kept at least one child occupied 🤭

[Emeralds]

By the way, folks, if you ask the usher for a booster cushion at ROH, they don't ask for the age of the user- even adults can (and do) use them. No upper or lower age limit for those.  🙂

[San Perregrino]

58 minutes ago, Emeralds said:

By the way, folks, if you ask the usher for a booster cushion at ROH, they don't ask for the age of the user- even adults can (and do) use them. No upper or lower age limit for those.  🙂

Did you know however that they are only available for certain seats in case child or adult slips off and injures themselves.

[alison]

Hmm, I can imagine them not being available for "loose seats", but beyond that ...?

[Emeralds]

4 hours ago, San Perregrino said:

Did you know however that they are only available for certain seats in case child or adult slips off and injures themselves.

That makes sense. We don't actually use them much. Most of the children who have come with me disliked them - sitting on folded up coats was the most popular option instead. They didn't like the squeaky noise the cushions make against certain fabrics, and they can feel slippery depending on what one's clothing is made of. 

[alison]

I thought I'd seen some charcoal-coloured boosters rather like the ones you get for children in cars?