Wagner veterans protest extreme Bayreuth security
mainDr 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
Fortunately there is a Red Cross station outside next to the souvenir shop with a comfortable cot ….
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.
Could this man bring an inflatable cushion?
How bout a whoopee cushion?
His own suggestion seems the most sensible for a security-conscious venue (probably less expensive than those fiddly cushion-scanning devices!).
He’s going to be cushioned from the real world as it currently is in Germany. Isn’t that enough?