Inside a theatre: Plays and musicals

At the theatre you can see plays, e.g. Hamlet, written by Shakespeare; or musical, e.g. Phantom of the Opera, written by Andrew Lloyd Weber. You usually book (reserve) – tickets in advance (some time before you see they play).When you see the play (or film), it is called a performance, e.g. The evening performance usually starts at 8 p.m. People in the theatre or cinema are called audience.

Exercise 5. Match the theatre terms with their Ukrainian equivalents.

1. box	a) партер
2. stage	b) білетер
3. stalls	c) сцена
4. circle	d) прем’єра
5. aisle [ail]	e) глядачі, публіка
6. row	f) прохід між рядами театру
7. curtains	g) ложа
8. audience	h) ярус, балкон
9. usher	i) ряд
10. first night 11. matinee [mætinei]	j) денний спектакль або концерт k) завіса

Exercise 6. Match the following questions and answers.

11. What does a theatre begin with?	a) The usher sells the programmes and shows us to our seats.
22. What do we do in the cloak-room?	2. b)They do it to see the cast of the play.
3. What does the usher do?	3. c) We can see the portraits of actors.
54. Why do spectators buy programmes?	4, d) A theatre begins with the cloak-room.
65. Where do the spectators walk during an intermission?	6. e) We can do it in the refreshment room.
76. What can we see on the walls of the foyer?	7. f) We leave our coats and hats with the cloak-room attendant.
87. Where can we buy a drink or a snack?	8. g) They go to the foyer.

Exercise 7. Fill in prepositions where necessary.

1. Last night Mr. and Mrs. Smith went ______ the theatre. When they approached ______ the theatre, they saw some people standing ______ the entrance, waiting ______ their friends. Mr. and Mrs. Smith went ______. First of all they went______ ______ the box-office and asked ______ two seats ______ the dress-circle. But the dress-circle seats were sold and they were offered two seats ______ the tenth row ______ the stalls. Then they went ______ the cloak-room and left their coats and hats ______ the cloak-room attendant. After that they went ______ _______ the usher and bought the programme. The usher showed them ______ their seats.

2. What’s ______ ______ the Opera and Ballet House tonight?

3. I am not much ______ a theatre-goer.

4. My sister is fond ______ ballet.

5. Did you buy tickets ______ advance or ______ the day ______ the performance?"

6. We are going ______ the theatre tomorrow. Would you like to join ______ us?

7. The play was a success ______ the public.

Exercise 8. Read and translate the text.