RADIO advertisements about the two performances of the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, held at the new Strovolos municipality theatre, included a reminder/warning — that everyone should be in their seats by 8.15pm. This was a peculiar announcement, given that the advertised start-time for the performance was 8.30pm. Were the organisers trying to educate people who are notorious for arriving late, and who have a habit of walking into an auditorium long after a performance has started? This seemed to be the idea, and not before time.
Punctuality has never been one of our stronger points as a people: arriving late is a national epidemic. Everyone on the island has learned to live with it, including foreign residents, but there are still times when it is infuriating. For instance, people walking into an auditorium midway through a piano recital, discussing where their seats are and then expecting a row of people to get up and make room for them to go to their seats do not seem to understand how thoughtless and selfish they are. Not only do they distract the performer, but they also ruin the enjoyment of members of the audience.
On Tuesday night at the Strovolos Municipal Theatre the inconsiderate late comers were quite rightly barred from entering. They were kept out of the auditorium after the start of the performance and made to wait until a break before they were allowed in. The same policy was in place after the interval, ensuring that the audience enjoyed the show without any distractions; no crisps or any other ‘noisy’ food was on sale in the foyer. No mobile phones rang either, thanks to several announcements telling people to turn them off for the performance.
We do not know who imposed these rules at the Strovolos theatre, but whoever it was deserves lavish praise. It’s high time inconsiderate late-comers were stopped from ruining everyone else’s enjoyment of a music performance. Now other theatres must follow suit.
Death trap rethink?
BRITON Dean Andrew Herne was the second diver to lose his life while exploring the wreck of the Zenobia, which sank off the coast of Cyprus in 1980. Nine years ago a Spanish diver was trapped in the wreckage and died, after he had tried to rescue a colleague in distress. According to experts, visibility inside the wreck is very poor and there is a danger of divers losing their way.
But despite the repeated warnings about the dangers of going into the Zenobia, its lure seems irresistible to scuba divers. Yet, as a police expert said, entering the wreck was a risky undertaking even for seasoned divers, requiring expertise and special gear. Should the authorities perhaps consider declaring the shipwreck out of bounds so that more fatalities are avoided? Or would the answer be to make the use of special gear when entering the wreck obligatory by law?
Two fatalities in nine years might seem too few to justify any measures by the authorities, but this would mean that the Zenobia will always be a potential death trap for adventurous divers, no matter how experienced they are.
