“Directors would rather there was no interval, especially the younger ones who fondly imagine the audience to be gripped by their visions. While theatres make a lot of money from intervals, there has to be a realistic assessment of what an audience wants from the rhythm of an evening.”
Graham Spicer is a writer, director and photographer in Milan, blogging (under the name ‘Gramilano’) about dance, opera, music and photography for people “who are a bit like me and like some of the things I like”. He was a regular columnist for Opera Now magazine and wrote for the BBC until transferring to Italy.
His scribblings have appeared in various publications from Woman’s Weekly to Gay Times, and he wrote the ‘Danza in Italia’ column for Dancing Times magazine.
I’m usually grateful for the interval as it gives me a chance to escape the director’s ‘vision’ – and especially at the Royal Court, where it provides the perfect opportunity to go home!
Well said! After escaping from a particularly dire show yesterday afternoon, I dreaded at one point that there would be no interval. After an hour and a half it finally arrived and our row shuttled off to the car park. The drinks in the bar were certainly more welcome than a second act.
Being a playwright, I’ve always found the interval to be the most difficult part of a play to write – Durango Miller .