The red stage hall — Local services in Riyadh Region

A structure of beauty should always be welcoming people to enter and bask in the grandness of its magnificence inside and outside. It is the responsibility of its host(s) to ensure that the experience of any patron or visitor of the place is not just mechanical and commercial but significant, cultural, historical and beautiful.

This is how I see great halls, and theatres and architectures should be presented to people.

Quite recently, I attended the 2Cellos Concert at The Red Stage Hall of the Princess Nourah Bint Abdulrahman University. It was my first time to visit the place and I thought that it had a lot of potential as a venue for arts and culture.

The Grand Lobby of the Hall is elegant and delightful. The huge red lantern that hangs at the center makes the lobby quite fascinating.

The theatre or the Red Hall boasts of a beautiful interior. The red seats are comfortable and the sound system is up to high standards.

The place is beautiful. However, there is much room for improvement on how the staff at the event or of The Red Hall Stage should manage and interact with its patrons.

The warmth and hospitality of its staff should be extended to its visitors.

At the night of the event, there were male and female staff wearing IDs and traditional clothes to welcome and usher visitors. There was also a group of men all wearing black suits distributed across the Lobby and inside the theatre.

Here are my thoughts.

Firstly, I showed my ticket to enter and a tag was placed on my right arm. I asked for the nearest WC in the lobby and the staff does not know. She told me: 'You can just ask the people you meet at the door.' When someone visits your home and asks for help to go to the WC, you give a helpful response. You don't tell your visitor to ask the next person he/she meets at your home. Honestly, I do not even know where to go next. I had to ask from people with ID whom I assumed were staff to help me. It could have been done better.

Second, I asked one of the staff wearing black suit if he could help take my photo at the lobby. He immediately said no and gave me a snobbish look. I do not know what their responsibilities are but if you are working at the Hall, you represent the Hall. If he is prevented by his duties to do so, decline nicely. Also, some of the men in black suit should have lessons on proper hygiene. Some of them did not smell quite well.

Third, the ushers inside the Red Stage Hall are very helpful. However, I think they still need practice on ushering people to their seats. In one instance, there was a couple in my row who were late. (In Broadway and Europe, in international halls and theatres, ushers do not let late-comers enter during a song or performance. They wait till the performance or song is finished. Outside of the theatre. This is theatre etiquette that should be followed and enforced by the staff and followed by patrons.) They were seated at the far end of our row. The usher should have brought them to the other side where their seats are nearer to the aisle but no. We all had to stand around 8 or 10 of us in the row in the middle of the performance. It was disappointing.

As for the performance, the 2 Cellos concert was a blast.

The Red Stage Hall is a structure of beauty. I would have wanted to bask in its glorious halls and breathe its grandness and essence during my first visit for a few minutes but the staff I encountered all wanted us to leave the place immediately.

I wished my first visit would be significant, cultural, historical and beautiful. Almost. I guess we hope that things get better and improved in the near future at The...

Nice but can’t say the place is managed professionally, people were coming in and out with little to no respect to the audience or...

Amazing stage. Seats are very comfortable and the sound quality is amazing. I attended the World...