Old Vic Loos

[HDDD]

Yay to double the loos - cos queueing for the ladies in the interval is a right faff
But, what, no actual ladies loos? - NO ACTUAL WOMEN ONLY LOOS
twitter.com/oldvictheatre/status/1179336786537005057 - thread
"The Old Vic @oldvictheatre
Our loos now offer ‘self-selection’ rather than being labelled male or female. This takes a descriptive, rather than prescriptive, approach following advice from surveys conducted with focus groups."

And the worst thing is, reading their EQIA, that they are aware of all of the issues surrounding mixed sex toilets, yet they have done it anyway

Thanks, littlbrowndog. I am a member too; I will definitely be raising this with them. Not happy with this - even their own document seems to indicate there are many groups who will not welcome this step.

Exactly @ItsAllGoingToBeFine

I was at the Old Vic last night. There were queues all the way up the stairs for the loos, and the ladies were using the ones which looked like ladies, and the men were using the ones which looked like men's. Still really badly designed.

Most historic Scotland loos are singles, aren’t they? I’m a member too, and we go to a lot of castles - most have one or two (completely enclosed) shared loos

If I was desperate for the loo to the extent that it hurt (which happens quite easily since kids) I would walk past the men with their dicks out rather than queue for ages.
I wouldn't like it, but I suspect most of them are going to like it a lot less.
Let's just hope they complain.

Actually I take my comment back, I’ve read about Blackness. That is not good.

Women need to start using the urinals I guess

First impact assessment I’ve seen that actually acknowledges there’s an issue. Seems they’re pressing ahead anyway though

I knew this is what the Old Vic was planning. I've been a few times over the past year whilst the refurb was in progress, and the temporary (sex-segregated and loads of them) toilets were in use. It was great to have no queues.
I will genuinely NEVER go there again. Nor will I go to the Royal Court in Sloane Square where they have done the same, and where a bearded man in shorts came out of the cubicle next to me in the "cubicles only" (formerly womens') loos. It was not busy at the time as it was about 30 mins before the play started, and he had had to walk past the "urinals and cubicles" (formerly mens') loos, so he did it deliberately, presumably to make some kind of woke point. I was furious and made sure I got to the hand-drier before him (as punishement for invading my space). He did look a bit embarrassed at that point - good. Afterwards I wished I had politely questioned him as to why he felt the need to use the (formerly) womens' loos.
They have also done the same at the Orange Tree Theatre in Richmond, whose audience is generally middle-aged to elderly.
Who are they doing this for? It's confusing for many people and will just make the queues longer.
Theatres seem to be leading the way with this sh1t - we need to start boycotting them (and stickering).
I stickered both the Royal Court and the Orange Tree at the interval but the stickers had been removed by the end of the play.

I used to be an avid theatre goer but the prices have gone up a lot in recent years, enough to make me think twice about going. Now I just won’t bother if it’s at one of these venues.

Come on you London lot. Just get out there and investigate at the Old Vic itself. This is just the case for a budding young investigator in the gender wars. Where the hell is Anne Ruzylo when you need her?

You will of course have to be disguised as a non-binary Londoner. You can claim expenses for blue hair dye, a checked shirt and a 'My Pronouns Are They, You Cunt' rainbow lanyard.

I expect, as an absolute minimum

• Sketch of the building floor plan, with PLAs (Problematic Lavvy Areas) highlighted in green
• A record of the number of areas with urinals/cubicles plus number of cubicle-only areas
• Total number of urinals in the gaff, total number of bogs in the gaff

Nice to have

• Documentary-style vid of you incognito (like that Watchdog fella)
• Interviews with members of the public (please check your bias and ensure that they're not all blokes)
• Comments from staff (as above)
• If you can perform some sophisticated mathematic calculation about bloke to lavvy provision ratio and woman to lavvy provision ratio, well I'd be grateful

Probably get you arrested

• Footage shot inside the toilets
• Asking loudly about whatever happened to Kevin Spacey
• Stating that women's bodies and men's bodies are different and require different provision

I hope they listen to the negative feedback from women asap.

At the Kiln Theatre they have similar "use whichever loo you feel is appropriate to your gender" signs on the doors *not envy
Never seen a man in the ladies though, most decent people recoil at this utter shit.

Countdown until cameras are found in the new woke loos?

The history book on the shelf
Is always repeating itself
Wokeloo I was defeated, you won the war
Wokeloo couldn't escape if I wanted to
Wokeloo knowing my fate is to be with you
Wokeloo finally facing my Wokeloo.

The theatrical world has really embraced this brave new world of making the majority of their patrons uncomfortable and confused, although pubs are increasingly jumping on the inclusivity bandwagon too.
At the weekend I was in a trendyish pub which had gender-neutral toilets (can't remember the exact bullsh1t wording on the sign) which were totally inappropriate. They were up a narrow staircase, one door into a small room with two sinks and 2 cubicles. Although the cubicles had floor to ceiling doors (good for privacy, but would have been preferable to have sinks inside the cubicles), the pub was full of rowdy groups of men and it would be so easy for one of them to push someone into a cubicle (bad for safety, and oh so easy to place spy cameras).

Never going there again. I'm running out of places to go.

After consulting with focus groups eh? I’m guessing non of those groups were this advancing the interests of women or sex as a protected characteristic.

I can guess which groups would have been consulted and been very vocal indeed.

I can guess which groups would have been consulted and been very vocal indeed.

And that's just what some people have said on Twitter...

My advice is write to them with clear feedback. Make sure you tell them this will stop you being able to attend.
These places are only funded by government on the understanding they get audiences and anything that puts bums on seats at risk is going to be taken seriously (even if women’s safety isn’t).

Women need to start using the urinals I guess

Tried that with friend at Sadler’s Wells. We were encouraged to by very respectable chap commenting on the huge queue for the women’s loos. At least theatres like the Old Vic have the excuse of trying to adapt an old, often listed, building. Sadler’s Wells is a disgrace.

I do want to be a Popchyk approved investigator but won’t be able to report for duty for the next couple of weeks. Will make a start by ordering my lanyard. I draw the line at wearing a Go Rachel t shirt though.

Yes. If women don't feel safe using their facilities and avoid them then their losses will be huge.

What is most galling is that they crowdfunded for female toilets, and then presumably spent the money on mixed sex...

www.thestage.co.uk/news/2018/old-vic-launches-fundraising-womens-loos/

Isn’t that a little bit, erm, fraudulent? At the very least dishonest.

interestingly, all the plans available on the Lambeth planning portal show clearly separated mens and womens toilets. I wonder when that changed...