LATE DOORS

Otago Daily Times, Issue 22835, 20 March 1936, Page 15

LATE DOORS

TO THE EDITOB. Sib,—l thank you for publishing this morning my letter on “ Late Doors and for your courtesy in referring it to the manager of the “ White Horse Inn ” company. He is more than a little disingenuous in the explanation that he offers. Whether my watch or his is right (and the Exchange clock showed 5.52 when I was at the mouth of Manse street on my way down) is beside the point. What matters is that a very few minutes before 8 the young lady in the ticket office had no authority to sell the late-door tickets as advertised, and no time had been fixed for her to commence doing so. Nor is it seemly that a self-respecting client should be asked to wait, cap in hand, for the manager’s appearance to get him a charity seat when, on his own showing, plenty of seats were available. To the best of my knowledge, Williamson’s was the first firm to introduce the carly-door charge in Dunedin; at any rate, my first experience as a regular theatregoer was of asking at one minute to 8 a stalls ticket when the firm brought Sandow to Dunedin; and, as on this occasion, being asked for early door price. Then, as now, I expostulated, left, and went up to the Princess Theatre, where, on that occasion, “ Sherlock Holmes” was being played to a full house, and seats •were found for my party. On several occasions in subsequent years I met with the same treatment, always from the same firm, and at last I decided to cut out their productions altogether, and for 10 years never attended one of their productions except on the rare occasions when special circumstances made it worth my while to pay reserved seat prices. My party was then always three, and usually four, and my young people grew up with no strong taste for the theatre. My circumstances were and are such that, to budget for all the outside entertainment I want, I must be satisfied with stalls; and, ns I do not feel disposed to stand in a queue or wait more than a quarter of an hour, I must go comparatively late. I had hoped to attend most of the changes in the forthcoming season of Williamson opera at late stalls prices, but shall not risk a similar experience. In these days plenty of varied entertainment is available. I am grateful that you published my letter, because I wrote it, and this, in the interests of the public, and, indirectly perhaps, in the interests of the Williamson firm, for they ought to know that a very large proportion of the Dunedin public are, from their circumstances, naturally a stalls-going people, and the policy of squeezing the last shilling out of an unwilling people at the last moment does not tend to make satisfied clients or help to build up the habit of theatregoing which would eventually profit all theatrical firms. —I am, etc., Curt.