Privet Vsem

Good Afternoon from Russia.
In this post I would like to share with everyone back home just what all of us are experiencing each time we enter the theater. How the experience is different from in America and such. I begin at the beginning:
1) it is generally cheaper than going to American theater. Each of our plays cost between 200 to 500 rubles (8-20 dollars) for fairly decent seats in good theaters (in one of the most expensive cities in the world). In addition you can pick up tickets to virtually any performance in the city at kiosks on the street. Very convenient

2) Coat check is mandatory. And convenient so that you don't have your coat with you in a crowded theater. Also convenient is the binoculars rental at the coatcheck.

3) the Bufet. Yum yum. Delicious snacks, coffee and tea, and other fun drinks are always available in the theater (but you have to finish them in the bufet before you go to your seat).

4)Clapping-- my personal favorite. Russians love to clap. They clap before the play when they are getting impatient for the show to start. They clap during the play after especially good performances. They clap endlessly AND in unison after the play has ended. At the ballet yesterday, they even clapped along with some of the music.

5) Programs are not free. Usually you can pick one up for one or two dollars, but we usually don't... probably because it would add up and we wouldn't understand most of it anyway.

6) Theater etiquette is ignored. Before every performance, there is the standard announcement that cellphones and pagers need to be turned off, but during every performance multiple cell phones will ring. Additionally people will take pictures of the performance throughout, even though that is also allegedly prohibited.

Well I guess I'll end it here since I'm running out of time. I hope you got something out of reading this, and maybe next time you go to the theater you'll think, "Hmm, I wish I were in Russia so I could have an espresso at intermission or start clapping randomly."