caution at the opera

Wellington Opera House - beware the gallery my friend...

In a city blessed with venues the Opera House has a great big stage, ideal for dance events.
But the seating in the gallery my dear! It seems to have been originally designed as a series of steeply tiered wooden steps, upon which one sits. Perfect for the keen but poor opera fans of the past. However at some point they have added the seat parts from plastic stacking chairs. Which leaves those of us who are of average height or less, perched, with feet dangling several inches off the ground.
Stupid thing was, I had been there before - but obviously failed to learn.
Thankfully I was at the end of a row and was able to adopt a kind of yoga twist position for the Royal NZ Ballet's first piece. Which was pretty good I thought. At the interval I leapt up to stand for 15 minutes. Amazed that quite a lot of audience stayed seated. Kiwi backsides obviously made of sterner stuff than mine.
Transferred myself to the step next to me - which was a big improvement. But after that great first piece the Ballet got more and more classical in style (again - I should have know - "Tutus on Tour" and not an inspirational South African cleric in sight). Let's face it - a theatrical performance of any kind needs to be enthralling to overcome seating problems. And contemporary dance is more my thing.
So after 3 pieces I dived for the Exit. Deja Vue! This was the exit that K and I had dived for after an hour or so of comedy acts. These were those stairs. Leading down to a fire exit and and the most well-tagged back alley to be found within spitting distance of Courtney Place.
The usherette, bless her, pursued me to see if I was alright and to warn me that once through the fire doors there was not return. Full marks to her.
And full marks to the Boysenberry Sorbet from Cafe Eis - which was the high point of the evening.