Manchester’s Swan Lake is ruffled by violence
OperaPolice and paramedics were called to Manchester Opera House on Quay Street at 8.35 pm, about an hour into a performance of the ballet, Swan Lake.
Police said: ‘Officers attended the scene, and a 30-year-old man was arrested on suspicion of assault, the man was taken to custody where he later released pending further investigation.’
What time’s the next Swan?
What actually happened? I don’t know what this item is but it is rather lacking. WHY were the police and paramedics called? WHO was assaulted — dancers, stage crew, audience? WHAT did the arrested/released man allegedly do? Was he armed with any weapon? Was anyone hurt? Was the performance cancelled? Paused? Uninterrupted?
As you do not link a source for this sensationally titled story, I wonder if it came from one of your “sources.” If so, I think you might want a refresher course in asking questions.
Probably a Manchester United fan found he was sitting next to a Manchester City fan………….
LOL! But that’s only soccer so it doesn’t truly amount to anything.
Pope John Paul II Quote: “Amongst all unimportant subjects, football is by far the most important.”
I hear from my fly on the wall that it was a member of an ornithological protection action group protesting against mishandling of swans in the production. When he was forcibly corrected by other members of the audience, who by then had stopped paying attention to the stage where the corps de ballet was just in the middle of the ‘Ronde des jeunes sygnes’, reassuring him that these were not real birds but dancers impersonating them, he screemed: ‘But they’re being abused anyway!’ and had to be led away into the foyer where his protesting was still heard when Siegfried made his elegant entrance to a bewildered flock of distracted birds.
Ballet-bust up at the opera house: Theatregoer attacks another to leave his face ‘a mess’ after being told to keep the noise down during production of Swan Lake
A man has been arrested after fighting allegedly broke out in the audience at a performance of Swan Lake – leaving one theatregoer’s face in ‘a mess’.
It is believed the violence was triggered by someone in the audience asking another to stop talking at the Manchester Opera House, Quay Street, on Sunday.
Horrified audience members who witnessed the violence during the interval of an evening performance of the ballet said the incident was ‘disgusting’ and ‘outrageous’.
Witnesses claimed there was a ‘heated argument’ moments before the violent scenes played out and that one man’s face ‘was a mess’ after he was assaulted by another audience member.
It is understood the incident escalated at 8.30pm – around an hour into the performance.
Police were called to reports of a ‘disturbance’ and a man was arrested on suspicion of assault at the scene and taken into custody.
A witness said: ‘It was terrible. I was sat about ten feet away. There were elderly people sat closer. It was outrageous behaviour, talking through the performance, then arguing when they were asked to stop during the interval by a gentleman, then fighting.
‘The performance was beautiful by the way but no one appreciated that ‘entertainment’ during the interval.
‘I’m glad he was arrested. Hope he’s banned from the venue.’
Another audience member claimed: ‘It was disgusting behaviour and no need for it. Why people like that attend these performances I have no idea.
‘The general behaviour of audiences these days is poor and puts you off going. I was sat across the aisle from this and the poor guy that got assaulted, his face was a mess.’
They added that the incident ‘started as a heated argument’ that ‘could have been resolved’ if the man in question had been ejected from the theatre before ‘violence took over’.
A third person commented: ‘I was there. It was a punch up in the interval. Awful behaviour really.’
A Greater Manchester Police spokesperson told MailOnline: ‘On Sunday 21 January 2024, at around 8:35pm, officers received reports of a disturbance at Manchester’s Opera House on Quay Street.
‘Officers attended the scene, and a 30-year-old man was arrested on suspicion of assault, the man was taken to custody where he later released pending further investigation.
‘Enquiries remain on going to establish the full circumstances surrounding this incident.’
MailOnline has contacted the Manchester Opera House for comment.
Well done, and thanks.
Oh yeah, in a nutshell.
oh dear, and that’s before regional audiences watching the forthcoming 30th anniversary tour of Swan Lake in nearby Salford Lowry in November discover that the orchestra they are listening to is a recording and not a live band?
Maybe other similar scuffs may erupt when they realise they’ve been duped without knowing?
The joke about the time of the next swan is a Lohengrin joke: what time is the next swan home? Geddit?
Yes, good Lohengrin joke. But the prospect of taking a swan home makes taking the NYC subway seem like slumming.
That quote originates with the great tenor Leo Slezak. During one performance the swan departed too early, before Slezak had taken his place in it. And he ad libbed: “Wann geht der nächste Schwan?”
With all the pressures they are under, theatres cannot allow this to happen.
People with short attention spans who think it’s OK to talk over the music provided there’s no star singer on stage (what’s the point of music without a singer?), smartphone addicts, compulsive eaters, and confrontations fuelled by alcohol. Managements need to get a grip.