ENO bans drink brought in to musicals to halt rowdy element
ONE of the country’s major theatre companies is facing accusations of elitism after banning audiences from bringing food and drink into the venue to stop patrons smuggling in gin and vodka in water bottles.
The ban by the English National Opera (ENO) extends only to musical shows, rock and pop concerts, with opera, ballet and classical music audiences still allowed to bring in soft drinks and snacks.
The ENO said it had introduced the ban after it found some of those attend- ing shows at the London Coliseum in St Martin’s Lane were smuggling vodka and gin into the venue in water bottles, leading to rowdy scenes inside the auditorium.
Gary England, head of commercial operations at the ENO, said: “There is a small minority of audiences that have been known to replace water with gin or vodka and it has caused problems. We did a consultation and this was the case for musical theatre audiences.”
He added: “We have catering partners within the building that sell food and drink.
“People were coming in and picnicking and taking up the spaces where other people have purchased food.”
But the ban has led to claims the ENO is discriminating against audi- ences for more commercial shows such as Bat Out of Hell and its new production of Chess.
A member of the ENO’s front-of-house staff told The Stage: “We have recently re-implemented a scheme in which we are forced to make the public bin any food or drink before entering the premises – this includes packets of sweets and unopened bottles of water.
“This means in the height of summer, patrons are asked to chuck away unopened bottles of water and are expected to refill it with tap water inside, or purchase something else.
“Myself and other front-of-house [staff ] find it a disgusting and humiliating procedure, but we are told this is standard practice.”
The ban has been criticised by performers and theatre goers. Frank Loman, a London-based stage singer, wrote on Twitter: “Ban on noisy food? Great! Audiences having to throw away food and bottles of water? Just wrong!”
Ian Morton said: “I had a three-hour train journey directly after last Saturday’s matinee, so to save time bought a sandwich and drink in Covent Garden; five minutes later I was forced to bin them. I tried to explain the situation but was treated like I was trying to smuggle Semtex into the auditorium.”
The ENO defended the ban, which was piloted during Carousel in April 2017. A spokesman said: “It certainly doesn’t represent any elitism towards music theatre, but puts us in line with other venues presenting similar work.
“With the extremely wide range of work presented at the theatre, we’ve adopted these tailored security measures that are in line with different performance venues in the West End and Greater London.”
‘There is a small minority of audiences that have been known to replace water with gin or vodka’