Going to the theatre is a bit like visiting someone’s home: it’s always good to receive a warm welcome and be made to feel comfortable. Sometimes, sadly, you feel a little embarrassed for the conditions that the host lives in; I’m always mortified, on behalf of the desperately tired but venerable old Garrick Theatre, at how frayed and shabby the carpeting is, and particularly how the wall on the way into the men’s loo on the way down to the stalls is peeling away from damp.
The first port of call for most, of course, is the box office, and it’s the place where the theatre can make a good first impression. Box offices sometimes have a bad reputation for being staffed by the ranks of the bitter, grand and unhelpful - run, as they frequently are, by that deadly combination of the acid but failed theatre professional, who once fancied themselves as actors.
But I’m often equally amazed at their grace under pressure. And it is an art epitomised by the National’s head of box office, Michael Straughan, who is to be found in every nook and cranny of the theatre, floating amiably about not just on first nights but every night, it seems. I can barely pop into the National, either front-of-house or backstage, without running into him.
Of course, I go to the National more than I visit just about any other London theatre, simply because of their constantly evolving repertoire; but I also go here even when I’m not seeing a show, either to have a drink in one of their all-day coffee bars, or to visit the bookshop or an exhibition. It’s also the perfect place to conduct a daytime interview: I recently met Leanne Jones there two days after her Olivier win. And of course, I ran into Michael Straughan, who was busily greeting Frances de la Tour and Margaret Tyzack on their way to a matinee of Much Ado About Nothing.
But once you’re past the box office, it’s the theatre manager’s floating presence that infects (and affects) every other part of the experience. It’s when you don’t need to notice the manager himself (or herself), of course, that they’re arguably running at their most efficient (or alternatively the manager has simply given up and scarpered); but the best managers are also like party hosts who are on hand to welcome their guests. At the Duchess, for instance, long-serving manager Chris Isherman even holds the door open for patrons as they arrive; and at the Trafalgar Studios, Adam Knight is a welcome breath of fresh air amongst a new, younger generation of theatre managers.
The Trafalgar Studios is another venue I go to more than most, because it has two houses and nothing runs for too long, so I suppose I shouldn’t be surprised that the staff have gotten to know me: the box office even hand me my programme and ticket without me having to ask for it. But Adam is also always on hand for a friendly chat; and the thing I also love about him is that he’s obviously a genuine theatre enthusiast, whom I regularly see at other shows around town - not to mention the country - on his days or nights off. I first met him properly when I travelled down to a matinee of a new Howard Goodall musical at Salisbury and he was there, too.
Visiting Mr Knight yesterday afternoon for a matinee of Visiting Mr Green, he had to demonstrate his own grace under pressure: technical problems delayed the opening of the house and in turn the start of the performance, and he appeared onstage to personally apologise. I got a little nervous, as I was heading straight from the theatre to Gatwick to fly to Warsaw, which is where I am now; but his calming certainty that the performance would begin at 2.45pm was duly honoured. If only the same could be said of Network Rail and its myriad service providers - after waiting at London Bridge for twenty minutes for the next fast Gatwick-bound service, it was reported cancelled three minutes before it was due to arrive. But I quickly re-grouped and took myself on the first train to East Croydon instead, and managed to pick up a fast Gatwick-bound train from there. And since I was only travelling with hand luggage — always a good precaution when you’re travelling British Airways nowadays, since they have a tendency to mislay, or simply not load, checked luggage, as Naomi Campbell found to her cost — I sailed through the airport and was at the departure gate in good time.
I've always found the Box Office staff at the National to be the most accomadating in London. They are patient and helpful. It all must be that Mr. Straughan's doing. As opposed to the rundown Garrick where I have been verbally abused by the box office staff or the Duchess where at one time they told me they had none of the cheaper seats available even though I knew the show was playing to empty houses. Those theatre's could take a lesson from the National about customer relations.