I can see how that might work, though I haven't heard of any specific initiatives here to encourage dressing down.
I remember when I was a broke student in clothes that didn't fit, I went as a guest of my mother to the opera at Covent Garden and the ranks of the expensively dressed white upper middle classes with home county cut glass accents would probably have made 97% of the country feel like a visitor to an alien, disapproving planet.
But that was Covent Garden. Opera North and Opra Cymru, operating on smaller budgets (miniscule in the case of the latter) are probably easier going. Well, Opra Cymru definitely was when I saw their Cosi Fan Tutte last year. Plus open air productions in places like Regent's Park must do a lot to bring people in. It's hard for anyone to look elitist if they're sweating in t-shirts and shorts on a plastic chair during a London heatwave.
I guess back in the days of smartening up, it was still contextual -- whether it was a matinee or evening performance, indoors or outdoors, 'serious' theatre or a musical.
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branchandroot
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Date: 2025-01-15 09:47 pm (UTC)I remember when I was a broke student in clothes that didn't fit, I went as a guest of my mother to the opera at Covent Garden and the ranks of the expensively dressed white upper middle classes with home county cut glass accents would probably have made 97% of the country feel like a visitor to an alien, disapproving planet.
But that was Covent Garden. Opera North and Opra Cymru, operating on smaller budgets (miniscule in the case of the latter) are probably easier going. Well, Opra Cymru definitely was when I saw their Cosi Fan Tutte last year. Plus open air productions in places like Regent's Park must do a lot to bring people in. It's hard for anyone to look elitist if they're sweating in t-shirts and shorts on a plastic chair during a London heatwave.
I guess back in the days of smartening up, it was still contextual -- whether it was a matinee or evening performance, indoors or outdoors, 'serious' theatre or a musical.