NC for this as it is a quiet specific and revealing situation.
A friend and I run the local am-dram society. We are a mixture and children and adults, and every year we put on a Christmas pantomime. This year the village council of the next village along asked us to perform for them. They wanted the show free for residents so agreed to donate a small sum to cover our costs. We agreed.
We had a great run of the show in our own village hall, the audiences were great and we were looking forward to finishing on a high. When we got there we had the first sign that things were not as they seemed. Instead of rows of chairs they had set the hall up with tables; and a bit gap with blankets in front of the stage.
Once we got started, people were treating it like a gig rather than a show. Children were running around screaming and shouting; parents were chatting and on their phones; people were getting up and ordering food and drink at the kitchen the council staff were running (which they originally said we could use to sell refreshments in the interval). It was so loud that we had to make an announcement about half way through act one asking for quiet as we couldn’t hear cues for light and sound effects backstage.
When it came time for the interval, several of the children were so upset that they initially refused to perform Act Two. One parent who had come to this showing as it was the only one they could make; told me her teenage son was in tears because of the way the audience had been performing.
I spoke to the woman in charge and she said She didn’t see the problem. She also asked if we could cut Act Two down as she didn’t want a late finish. I told her that if we started Act Two within the next five mins we’d be finished before 8. No. We couldn’t do that as they were selling food and had to do a raffle. In the end the interval lasted 45 minutes. We then had members of staff walking through the curtains and shouting at us to “turn the music down” as she wanted to draw the raffle. (Which no one could hear as the noise from the audience was still so loud!)
Now, for us it did end on a high; as we cut all the songs and slapstick from Act Two, finished the entire thing in 15 minutes and then went back to own village hall where we performed an unplanned and free final show to an audience of parents and friends who were our best audience yet.
So, WIBU to send a letter of complaint to the chair of their council complaining about the way we were treated?.