Theatre Royal Glasgow — Attraction in Great Britain

Went to the Theatre Royal Glasgow on Wednesday,to see the opening night of The Book of Mormon! Fantastic show, great performances, fantastic singing and oh so funny. It was well worth waiting over a year to see it. The seats we purchased were for the upper circle, row D, and at £20 were fantastic value for money. The view we had encompassed all of the stage except for a little piece on the left hand side of the stage. This wasn't a problem for us as we just sat forward in our seats and most of the action took place centre stage and right hand stage. The accessibility of the Theatre Royal in Glasgow is now superb following their refit a few years ago, which saw lift access being provided for all upwards floors, including the Gallery, or the Gods as we call it in Glasgow. It's great getting to your seating area by lift but you still have to deal with the stairs down or up to your seat. It's very steep, and for me it was terrifying. I had to get my partner in crime to walk directly in front of me so I didn't fall. I have MS, and I get dizzy sitting down never mind walking down steep stairs in a theatre. I also walk with sticks. Can I just say though, the theatre is a great venue, but the space you have at your seat in the upper circle is not great. This is a very old theatre, opened in 1876, the seats don't really cater for fat disabled people like me. I felt cramped the entire time, and this led to me being in pain with spasms in my legs throughout the second half. I had no room to move my legs, they were squashed right against the wooden back of the seat in front of me! Thank the Lord the show was magic, or I would have been an unhappy bunny with sore legs! Great performance from the Theatre Royal Glasgow staff as well. Always looking to help, asking if I needed any assistance. I love the refit, it is stunning. The Theatre Royal of old had a grand staircase, it still does but now it is front and centre of the building and it is stunning. There is also a circular ramp from the front door, around to the concession stands and lifts so easy access for wheelchair users, as well as stick using walking disabled. The only problem with the ramp was access. People were tending to stand at the access to the ramp and queuing for the concession stands for snacks, catching up or waiting on their friends. It was fairly busy and noisy, so my pleas to gain access were falling on deaf ears! I literally had to poke one of them with my finger to get their attention. They were most apologetic, but please people, don't stand at an access point for disabled people. Have a care for other people who can't walk up 2 tiny stairs to get to the lifts! All in all, it was great. Didn't go to the loo, do can't comment on any disabled access to these. I have included 2 photos of the view from my seat taken at the...

On Sunday I had a lovely evening at Theatre Royal seeing Luther Live however at the end of the show, as everyone was leaving, I attempted to use the disabled toilet at which time I was forcibly thrust against a wall as a result of a tall male individual who was clearly drunk pushing ahead to use the toilet before me. This resulted in a badly bruised arm, shoulder and wrist from the impact against the wall.

The following day, as a result of the assault, I had to attend medical professionals - an osteopath and pain management consultant, due to having several titanium rods, screws and cages pinned to my spine from previous surgery and was prescribed morphine for the pain I was experiencing.

At the time of the incident there were several witnesses who looked on incredulously as this individual effectively assaulted me. On calling the stewards for assistance, they had no idea what to do or how to act in such a situation and showed total apathy towards me. I then called for the manager, Enzo, who eventually appeared and also acted with complete indifference to the fact that a customer using his venue had been assaulted on the premises. His only comment was, “So where are your witnesses now then?”, by which time the witnesses had dispersed due to the delay in staff taking any action. At no point were security or police alerted to any of this.

Patrons of the Theatre Royal should be aware that there appears to be no adequate Health and Safety policy nor Accident procedure in the event of a customer assault and a lovely evening was spoiled as a result.

The compelling issues that the Theatre Royal management need to address urgently are: Staff training on health and safety; Accident report book was not offered; Security/police not informed; Stewards had no idea how to deal with the issue, therefore witnesses were allowed to leave before any action could be taken; Assuming there is CCTV of the foyer, if not, perhaps now is the time to get it!

This is not the sort of experience you want to have when you go to the theatre. Even in my mid-60s, with my spinal issues, I consider myself quite fit and robust. I would not like to see my 80 year old aunt, who suffers with osteoporosis, treated in such a manner and the staff do...

If I could leave zero stars i would. I have been trying to resolve my issues with their customer service team for over 2 months now with no useful response. I was bought tickets for my birthday. I worked through my lunch to leave work early to get to glasgow, we received a text that curtain would be delayed, then a further text that the show was cancelled. We were not offered tickets for a different date simply a refund and to try to buy tickets. This then resulted in me spending a further £51, having to work through another lunch break as well as further travel costs. To my further disgust I could not see the full stage from my seat but could see backstage to the tech staff working which was distracting. The show also started late as so few people were in their seats on time, people then had to leave before the show was done presumably to catch their bus or train. People were shouting, getting up and down to stand in aisles, playing with their phones and little was done by staff. I contacted atg customer service initially who said nothing could be done. My complaint was finally passed to the venue who responded almost 3 weeks ago addressing 1 aspect of the complaint and have not replied to me since. Extremely sad that a company with such poor customer service basically has a monopoly for the bigger shows. Now I need to decide whether i want to risk my money knowing i might be watching a partial show with a bonus look at...