Dear parents, grandparents, aunts and uncles,
If you think bringing a child younger than, say, eight years old to see Swan Lake is a good idea, please note the following:
The story is a tragedy. It involves a creepy evil sorcerer, a cruel temptress, devastating heartbreak, and, in most productions, at least one suicide.
It is about 2 hours and 45 minutes long. That typically includes two 20-minute intermissions during which chattering, eating, seat-kicking, and whining are welcome, but when the lights go down and the orchestra is playing, it is time to sit still and be in listen-only mode.
In many opera houses and theaters, probably including the venue where your Swan Lake is presented, eating and drinking are not allowed. This means no slurping from sippy-cups or straws from the bottom of cups with ice, and no crunching on something from a crinkly bag. It is not only prohibited by the venue (didn’t you see those signs by the concessions stand and at the auditorium entrance, and the message printed right there on your ticket?), it is disrespectful to the artists (hint: the violin soloist is one of the performers!) and your fellow audience members. Those intermissions? That is the appropriate time for your child to eat. If they cannot possibly abstain from eating during the show, please at least have the courtesy to provide them with something they can consume quietly (how about a soft cookie or piece of bread from a package that does not crinkle?).
Your fellow audience members paid quite a bit of money to hear the live orchestra, not your child’s ongoing narrative, singing along, and definitely not their consumption of a bag of chips/popcorn/cheese curls/whatever was being consumed in row D seat 121 or thereabouts in the San Francisco War Memorial Opera House during last Sunday’s matinee of Swan Lake.
Thank you for you consideration.
the view from a room 