Booking fees, over-priced programmes and a lack of leg-room are not exactly welcoming
David Lister suggests ways theatres could be more welcoming, ahead of The Most Welcoming Theatre award.
The arts world is not exactly short on awards and generally the heart sinks at the thought of another one. But there is one new prize that should please anyone who goes out of an evening for a taste of culture. It is The Most Welcoming Theatre award, organised by the Theatre Management Association and voted for by the public.
“Welcoming”. There’s a word that doesn’t often rear its head in aesthetic discussions. But however intellectually enriching a performance, it can be diminished if the theatre is so steeply raked it gives you vertigo (yes you Trafalgar Studios, London) or its management forgets to check that trains have stopped running after the finish (as with David Tennant’s celebrated Hamlet at the RSC, Stratford-upon-Avon) or closes its doors just as most of the working population are able to enter (that’s most of the country’s art galleries).
Looking at the comments online about the award, it is evident that a lot of theatregoers like a nice meal in nice surroundings with their play, which accounts for the good showing so far of The Mill at Sonning in Berkshire. They also like scenic surroundings, so The Theatre by the Lake at Keswick and Minack in Cornwall are scoring well.
The arts world is not exactly short on awards and generally the heart sinks at the thought of another one. But there is one new prize that should please anyone who goes out of an evening for a taste of culture. It is The Most Welcoming Theatre award, organised by the Theatre Management Association and voted for by the public.
“Welcoming”. There’s a word that doesn’t often rear its head in aesthetic discussions. But however intellectually enriching a performance, it can be diminished if the theatre is so steeply raked it gives you vertigo (yes you Trafalgar Studios, London) or its management forgets to check that trains have stopped running after the finish (as with David Tennant’s celebrated Hamlet at the RSC, Stratford-upon-Avon) or closes its doors just as most of the working population are able to enter (that’s most of the country’s art galleries).
Looking at the comments online about the award, it is evident that a lot of theatregoers like a nice meal in nice surroundings with their play, which accounts for the good showing so far of The Mill at Sonning in Berkshire. They also like scenic surroundings, so The Theatre by the Lake at Keswick and Minack in Cornwall are scoring well.