Experiences Not Stuff

Scottish Ballet are bringing ‘The Crucible’ to Aberdeen next April.  Went online to book a ticket.  Last time I went to the ballet, tickets for the dress circle were £29.  That was for the controversial Cinderella.  Some performances were Cinderello.  Not the matinee I attended though, which was a shame because I wanted to challenge my own initial reaction of ‘Why don’t they just create new, original stories rather than commandeering well-loved fairy tales?’

(Suspect, because there wouldn’t be as much free publicity if feathers weren’t purposely ruffled).

High-horses aside, dress circle tickets for the ballet are now £59.  I know the dancers are highly skilled, go through years of training and suffer terribly for their art, but £59 would get you a nice warm puffer jacket in Markies.  Nevertheless, bought a ticket, they are a fabulous ballet company and I want to support them. 

Booked the matinee performance.  Matinees are usually full of silveries who have come into town on the bus, and leave the theatre in a rush, to get the bus back home in time for dinner.  For the most part, a silvery audience knows how to behave in a theatre during a live performance.  You’re less likely to be faced with a constellation of mobile phone lights, they don’t assume that requests don’t apply to them and take photos during the performance anyway, they don’t meerkat by standing up to face the rest of the audience, as they know the audience isn’t there to see them, and they're more averse to causing ‘a showing-up’.  With a few medical exceptions, they don’t have the attention span of a goldfish, and can sit through an hour of entertainment without snacking, well maybe the odd barley sugar.  Just don’t get in their way at the bar at the interval.