Wagner veterans protest extreme Bayreuth security

Wagner veterans protest extreme Bayreuth security

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norman lebrecht

July 18, 2016

Dr Derek Williams, former chair of the Wagner Society of Scotland, has written to the lairds of Bayreuth objecting to the extra discomfort they are inflicting on senior Wagnerites like himself by banning the use of cushions.

His letter happened to drop into our inbox. Dr Williams writes:

Dear Ms Wagner and Mr von Berg

Thank you for your email to the Wagner Society of Scotland, with the PDF attachment outlining enhanced security arrangements.  I am one of a number of society members who will be attending Der Ring des Nibelungen this coming August (6-13), and other events over the coming years.  While I acknowledge and appreciate the imperative to safeguard the precious Festspielhaus and to protect patrons from explosive devices being smuggled into the theatre, it also concerns me as an older person that I may have to sit for 15 hours on solid wooden seats.  Can you please reassure me that the venue will be providing alternative cushions?

With best wishes

Derek Williams

 

bayreuth lohengin rats

Comments

  • Manuela hoelterhoff says:

    Fortunately there is a Red Cross station outside next to the souvenir shop with a comfortable cot ….

  • Robert Holmén says:

    Idea… since it is said to be warm in the theater, wear a coat.

    Once inside, take it off, fold it up and sit on the coat.

  • Dave T says:

    Could this man bring an inflatable cushion?

  • john jones says:

    How bout a whoopee cushion?

  • V.Lind says:

    His own suggestion seems the most sensible for a security-conscious venue (probably less expensive than those fiddly cushion-scanning devices!).

  • Holly Golightly says:

    He’s going to be cushioned from the real world as it currently is in Germany. Isn’t that enough?

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