The Playgoer: jammin'

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Wednesday, March 07, 2007

jammin'

If the Russians can do it, why can't we!

St Petersburg's Alexandrinsky Theatre was built in 1756. It is the oldest in Russia and is where Chekhov's Seagull first debuted (and flopped) in 1896. They have now installed a not-so- super-secret cell-phone blocking system. They bought it on the internet.

The Guardian prices the device at £ 1000. So, you think any of our theatres have two grand to spare? Everyone's probably got one donor who can cough that up, right?

Or wait, here's a better idea--raise money for the device by assessing a fee on cell phone offenders! How will we know who they are? Simple: heat sensors.

The inciting incident?

The theatre said it was forced to introduce the measure after a ringing mobile phone wrecked a recent performance of Leo Tolstoy's The Living Corpse. The central character, Fedor Protasov, decides to kill himself after his wife accidentally marries someone else. "It was towards the end. Just as the hero was about to shoot himself someone's mobile phone started to ring."
Either someone forgot to set to vibrate or that's the lamest sound-cue fuckup ever.

hat tip: Rocco

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