What was not terrific was that my seat was at the left end of the second row, on a riser about six to eight inches above the floor level. As I learned halfway through the show, there was no lip at the end of the riser to protect against movement of the seat. My seat moved slightly to the left, and I went tumbling off the end of the riser in the darkened theater, falling on my arm and jarring my neck and back as I fell. Apparently, I instinctively reached out for stability with my right arm as I fell, pulling along with me the neighboring chair. This person's chair also got pulled off the edge, and she fell along with me, also landing on her arm.
The show went on, which is fine (and pretty impressive given the noise and disruption that we made.) But no one from the staff came to see if we were all right either immediately or after the show, even though it was evident that cast members had seen the event.
After the final curtain, we reported the incident to the house manager. She apologized and filled out a form, asking us to add our information to the form. She did not, however, give us any advice about what to do if we were injured or had medical issues that became more evident over subsequent days. Nor did she offer a first aid examination or any other assistance.
Beyond those points, though, here is the major problem. We both said, a few times, that this was a dangerous arrangement and that something should be done to protect against a similar fall by future patrons. The house manager gave no indication of hearing that concern and made no mention of any follow-up actions she or the theater were likely to consider.
In the hospital world, when there is an unsafe condition that has caused harm and a patient reports it, we train people to give a sincere apology; we offer immediate remedial assistance; we offer to make recompense or compensation in proportion to the degree of harm; and--most importantly--we explain how the institution will learn from the error so that other people do not suffer the same result.
My fellow patron and I both left the theater feeling that the final step would not take place. That made us resentful that the third step was never offered. Frankly, I never even would have thought about recompense or compensation if the final step had taken place. Like a patient who has suffered harm and has not heard the appropriate response from a hospital, resentment leads to a desire for financial compensation. What an unnecessary outcome!
Finally, instead of talking with friends about the wonderful show we had seen and the great performance by talented actors and musicians, we found ourselves talking about the unsafe condition at the theater and what we felt was a poor response to harm that had occurred.
27 comments:
So, the show is so good, it will knock you off your seat!
Did all of the rows of seats look like this? Your injury could have been far more serious had you been in a higher row.
No, Ron. The first row is on the floor. Rows three and above have a protective railing. It is only row two that is unprotected.
And, on row two, the last chair is right at the edge of the riser.
I believe that MIT owns this theatre, so you may want to give their Safety Office a call Monday morning.
I don't think they own it, but they are sponsors.
I'm a local freelance worker who has served on several crews at Central Square. MIT is a collaborative partner with them; the theater is its own entity with 2 resident companies.
Safety concerns with seating have been an issue on several productions. I would advise sending an actual paper letter, addressed to Debra Wise, the Artistic Director; CC'd to Taylor Hansen, the Production Manager.
You can also find their emails addresses on the theater's website here:
http://www.centralsquaretheater.org/contact.html
On a personal note, I am so sorry this happened to you, and I do hope you heal well and quickly.
Hmm, I sent the blog post along to the management of the theater, and I received this note in response. It suggests a different story with regard to the history of safety issues cited by Sylvia:
Dear Mr. Levy: thank you for your concern and we are deeply sorry for your accident in our theater. I was informed of the incident this afternoon and we are looking into the problem. This is the first time that this sort of problem has arisen in over 50 performances of the show. Please be rest assured that we will take this issue seriously and I appreciate you getting in touch with us. Please contact me if you would like to discuss this issue further, I can be reached at 617-***-**** anytime. Again, our sincerest apologies for this unsettling accident.
Best,
Catherine Carr Kelly
Catherine Carr Kelly
Executive Director, Central Square Theater
Hospital people,
Please review Ms. Kelly's note and offer a critique, based on your experience with disclosure and apology in the medical setting.
Sorry to hear about your accident Paul. Hope you weren't injured too seriously. The incident does have parallels in healthcare both in the circumstances in which it happened and the response of the institution where it happened.
As for the circumstances,i suspect delivering a musical of this nature is a complex feat involving a lot of people who are both talented and very motivated to make the production succeed.In that mindset focus tends to be on the bigger more crucial aspects of delivery that are required to make the show a "success''. In that organisational frame of mind 'lesser' issues such as safety tend to be relegated to second tier concerns except where they contravene health and safety legislation ( a breach of which can risk the success of the show.) Thus they are often overlooked .
For me the interesting analogy is the response.The immediate brain stem reflex is to not admit liability.Why ?I think that firstly this is a natural human response and secondly the fear that by doing so in this litigious world that we live in thats what we are advised to do.The irony of course is most victims aren't after money.All they want is a genuine apology(sympathy : we are after all human) and to feel some good has come out of their misfortune ie steps are taken to prevent it happening again.
Furthermore staff can become defensive as they interpret that admission of their mistake will be followed by blame and possible sanction.
Whatever we do for a living we all find it difficult to admit our mistakes either individually or collectively.Great organisations try to move away from this 'blame culture' to encourage learning for mistakes.Sadly its often the staff themselves who blame each other for mistakes( rather than the management) propagating the blame culture.It is this mindset that if I point out your flaws this somehow highlights my strengths.My medical colleagues will know this phenomenon!!
Sorry for long comment but this is an important lesson for us to learn.
Paul, I’m so sorry this happened to you and the other patron. In our work on serious adverse events at IHI, we found the key elements of a respectful response to any event includes; Empathy, Disclosure, Support, Assessment, Apology, Resolution, Learning, and Improvement. There should have been an immediate empathetic response to both of you (you shouldn’t have had to go looking for it) and you should have been provided the supports you outline. The theater should have promised to conduct a full review and assessment.
Of course, the conclusion of that provides another opportunity for an apology. They then would work with you both to assure personal resolution over time. Finally, your event is a learning and improvement opportunity for both prevention and response when something happens again. Something, whether this or something else, always happens again. In that next event, where there be Empathy, Disclosure, Support, Assessment, Apology, Resolution, Learning, and Improvement.
Of course, the best way to manage a crisis is to prevent it from happening again. This can’t be the first time a theater is faced with this problem with the free floating chairs—find the permanent fix!
Given the close association between the Cambridge Public Health Department and Cambridge Health Alliance, maybe there is a connection to be made there.
Our learning at IHI on respectful management of serious adverse events found its core outside of healthcare so there is no doubt in my mind that the parallels across industries are strong. Of course, nothing is stronger than in our overarching goal, “in the aftermath of an adverse event, the patient, the family, the staff, the organization, and the community can all say ‘we were treated with respect.’”
Best wishes, Jim
I think Isam has captured the gist of the lesson well. I have observations from a pragmatic perspective - I would characterize this error in hospital parlance as a 'near-miss' - that is, there was harm but only through sheer luck it was minimal - but the incident is a huge red flag for a repeat incident which could have a tragic outcome. Consider an elderly person who could have had a head injury (which is entirely possible with minimal trauma) and never recovered. Near-misses in which there is high probability of a life-threatening outcome need to rise to the top of the priority list.
Therefore the design of the system needs to be re-evaluated and a short term fix implemented immediately, with plans for a longer term fix when resources are available.
Like Isam, I was struck by the reaction (or lack thereof). "No one came to see if we were all right" - what if you had had a heart attack and were in the aisle in cardiac arrest? Numerous other what-ifs come to mind. Then in followup, you were told this had never happened before. This should never be said to a customer - it makes them feel like they are overblowing the situation, that what happened was somehow their own fault, or worst of all, that you are probably lying to them. It does nothing constructive.
Finally, it is possible that no one from management was present during the incident and the staff present did not know how to react, hence the delayed response to the customer. This is still no excuse - staff must now be trained in remedial fashion.
I am not one who supports victimhood or a sense of entitlement from a small incident, but I think Paul is trying to call out a dangerous situation here and the company should listen and improve.
nonlocal MD
A somewhat weak response from the theatre.
In the best run hospitals (and airlines) the following would have happened:
1) a longstanding safety issue would have been identified throu regular reviews (safety rounds). The chairs might have been recognized as a problem and lips installed before a fall.
2) any prior episodes of falls would have been entered not an online patient safety database. Managers would review the reports daily. The lips, or other remediation would have been immediately installed before the theatre could be used again following the first fall.
3) since the fall resulted in harm, it would trigger a search for similarly installed chairs. In aviation, a FAA alert would even go out to all other operators of the seats.
Last, the victim of this incident shouldn't be belittled or blamed. He or she needs to be reassured that the problem has been fixed, and that it won't happen to others.
The manager needs to get on top of this. A poor response to a serious problem.
You know, I tried to find a charitable, generous way to respond to this, but I keep coming back to:
1. a dope-slap
2. "Wake up, you guys!"
3. A brief lesson on the legal principle of negligence - responsibility for harm caused by carelessness - problems that any reasonable person could have foreseen.
Ms. Kelly, speaking just for myself, if *I* had experienced an easily avoidable fall, and I'd taken the time to fill out the forms including contact info, and you responded by asking ME to call YOU, I'd be thinking, "Is she BEGGING to hear instead from my lawyer? Is this just not worth a moment of her time to look it up - only enough time to dash off a quick note?" (Or, honestly, maybe you don't know the form exists, or don't know where to find it.)
Or, I don't know, maybe you just figure "No hospital, no foul." I could understand that but you're setting yourself up for a lawsuit next time, unless you act. Like, before tonight's show.
Believe me, if it'd been my WIFE who had fallen, with her various orthopedic issues, there would be hell to pay. And I mean, Hell, plus an unknown amount of hospital bills and maybe even surgery and lost mobility for the rest of her life. (I'm not kidding; think about that.)
Fortunately all is not lost - just slap your forehead and say "Holy cow, what was I thinking??" :-) Then just nail a strip of wood to each end of the risers. Ta-da!
AND, now that you know there's a problem, and you know how easy it would be to fix it, I'll also share the definition of negligence. Here's a start, from Wikipedia:
"a failure to exercise the care that a reasonably prudent person would exercise in like circumstances."
There... now you're fully aware of (a) the harm that was caused in this case (relatively minor this time) to TWO people, and (b) that one of your workers (Sylvia) has shared that this is an ongoing concern, and (c) there's nothing preventing it from happening again, and (d) it's easy to fix (or at least improve), then although I'm no lawyer, my guess is that if you don't act, it just might be taken as failure to exercise reasonable care.
(Not to mention the simple issue of caring more about a person who got hurt. But that's not a legal liability.)
Paul, if you don't get word that they've fixed it, you might also ping Tom & Ray (the real Car Talk guys), because they're good people and they talk about safety pretty often. This might be a teachable moment for them - including how to respond to a customer complaint and safety concern. And who knows, somday a nasty lawyer might go after them, too, even if they have a clause saying the theatre's liable.
Anyway, it's clear now that this incident is a matter of public record - it'd look cute in court. "So, you knew this is a problem, and you didn't fix it?":-)
In NYC, building code does not require seats in an aisle to be secured to the floor but they do require they be connected to each other in some manner creating a continuous unit. Sometimes they are made in a way to hook together or more simply zip tied together. This prevents loose seats in an aisle preventing escape in case of an emergency.
I hope that Paul and the other person who was injured are healing without too much more aggravation. The incident is, indeed, analogous to what could happen in a medical error, or close to medical error situation. Here’s my take:
The reply from Ms. Kelly is a good example of merely playing “lip service” to empathy in order to protect the institution where the wrong occurred. It is clearly defensive and comes across as insincere and merely “going through the motions.”
When she says: “This is the first time ……in 50 performances” it seems like Ms. Kelly is thinly masking blaming Paul for his fall. And, suggesting that Paul call the theater if he wants to discuss the issue is enervating. It indicates they have done all they plan to do unless Paul takes action. Worse yet, it does not state that anything has, or will be done, to rectify the dangerous situation with their seats.
What should Ms. Kelly have done? For starters, they should have had the theater manager reach out immediately and call Paul to:
1)Find out how he is doing and reiterate their genuine concern;
2)Inform Paul about what the theater is prepared to do to make sure that whatever injury he has incurred on their watch will be fiscally reimbursed
3)Truthfully inform Paul what HAS been done (not tomorrow, not next week, but what was immediately done)to avoid any further injury to future theater goers who might sit in the unsafe seats. At the very minimum, it would make sense to let Paul know that until they resolve the cause of the accident, no one else will be allowed to sit in those questionable seats!
4)As a “good will gesture” they could return Paul’s money for the tickets either in cash or by giving Paul season tickets to the theater.
As Paul indicated, by their lack of appropriate responsiveness they could easily be setting themselves up for a law suit. And, their reputation is being tarnished as dissatisfied customers tell many people about their negative experiences. Now, all of us know about the insensitive behavior demonstrated by the Central Square Theater in Cambridge.
Meanwhile, look what somebody wrote - -and my response -- on Universal Hub (a greater Boston community blog) -- http://www.universalhub.com/2012/be-very-very-careful-if-you-see-show-central-squar --
Didnt seem that bad...
By twc -
I was at that show and saw the guy fall over. I was sitting in the third row at the inside of the same section and saw something out of the corner of my eye, and it was the guy falling over. I looked to see if he was ok, and he and the other patron got up and sat in new seats. He didn't leave the theater or cry out as if he had been injured, so I figured he was fine. I wouldn't be so sure that anyone from the theater company knew about this befor eye told them. The whole event was so quiet that I think unless you were sitting near him that you wouldn't have noticed. Additionally, with the stage lights, I think the cast is effectively blind.
I agree though that they should fix the risers. Perhaps an old person would have broken their arm or something. But I thinks this guy's outrage about the theater's response during the show is misplaced. It seemed like no big deal at the time and he didn't make any indication that it was anything more than perhaps stumbling as you walk up the stairs. (which happened to a guy who came in right before curtain)
BTW, the show was quite a bit funnier than I expected.
You can't judge that way
By Paul Levy -
Yes, I sat down on another seat in the front row because I was shaken up and didn't feel comfortable trying to walk away. Also, even though shaken up, I didn't want to disrupt the show for other patrons. At that point, I was disoriented and was not even sure of the route to leave if I had wanted to.
Although I appeared fine to you, I actually "lost" about 20 minutes of the show as I sat there quietly trying to calm down and assess the degree of hurt and/or damage.
Yes, the cast did notice. Later, during the curtain calls, one member of the cast looked directly at me and gave me a signal (twice), as if to ask whether all was all right.
And, I explained in the blog post what happened when I talked to the house manager in the lobby after the show. The response was inadequate.
But, more importantly, please don't write in such a way as to blame the victim. Check the many comments on my blog and see how such things should be handled.
@twc - Your comment is wayoff-base. When I purchase performance tickets, I should be able to have a reasonable expectation that the venue will be safe, and well designed. Falling off one's chair and tumbling to the floor, onto another person, is decidedly not something that "doesn't seem that bad." Often, as is the case with car accidents or other jarring impacts, an initial adrenaline response kicks in to protect against further injury and enable a response, and symptoms may not show up until several hours later. As an onlooker, you have no way to judge that. Even deeply experienced professionals have to go through a thorough assessment of a patient/injured party to accurately assess damage, as in the case of concussions or other serious internal injuries that may have no outward appearance.
By the way, I'm the second person involved in this accident, and I was injured. The occurrence of an injury, though, is besides the point. At issue is the fact that an unsafe condition exists and that people, as a result, were harmed. At best, such an accident ruins what should have been an enjoyable outing. At worst, it does expose a serious safety concern. At a minimum, I would have hoped for a better response upon reporting the incidence, or in the hours or days after. The theater has my personal contact information, left behind on the incident report. No one has bothered to call to check on how I am doing, or provided any information about what I should do if I experience any medical concerns.
This isn't about outrage. Rather, it is about how an organization responds to a safety concern that has not only occurred, but has the potential to happen again. It is startlingly clear that theater staff have not been trained in how to respond in such instances, which is a worrying circumstance. I love the Central Square Theater, have watched many excellent productions there, and think it is a fantastic community organization and resource that does great work. However, the response of the theater management to a serious safety issue was - and continues to be - far from adequate.
Here are some of my thoughts (in CAPS below)– it is always difficult to interpret these types of communications – why a phone call is usually better and an in-person meeting between parties is optimal.
Dear Mr. Levy: Thank you for your concern (THIS ISN’T A CONCERN, IT’S A HARM – YOURS AND THE WOMAN SITTING NEXT TO YOU. A CONCERN WOULD BE AN EMAIL LETTING THEM KNOW YOU THOUGHT THE SEATING WAS UNSAFE BUT NO ONE GOT HURT – WE CALL THOSE UNSAFE CONDITIONS AND LOVE WHEN CAREGIVERS REPORT THEM SO WE CAN ACT ON THEM BEFORE SOMEONE FALLS OFF THE LEDGE DURING THE SECOND ACT. PLUS MANY PEOPLE INITIALLY FEEL OK AFTER “ACCIDENTS” ONLY TO DISCOVER THE NEXT DAY THEY DID BREAK SOMETHING, HAVE WHIPLASH OR WORSE) and we are deeply sorry for your accident in our theater (EMPATHY – NOT APOLOGY). I was informed of the incident this afternoon (WHO INFORMED HER – HER MANAGER BECAUSE THEY HAVE A PROCESS IN PLACE FOR THESE ISSUES TO BE CONVEYED UP THE LADDER OR DID SOMEONE SEND YOUR POST TO HER) and we are looking into the problem. This is the first time that this sort of problem has arisen in over 50 performances of the show (THEY HAVE BEEN LUCKY, NOT GOOD – ALSO THAT COMMENT WOULD MAKE ME FEEL LIKE I WAS A KLUTZ, IT WAS MY FAULT IN SOME WAY – NO ONE ELSE FELL OF THE PLATFORM BEFORE SO YOU MUST BE THE BOZO WHO HAD TOO MUCH TO DRINK. ALSO I’D BE WILLING TO BET SOMEONE WHO WORKED AT THE THEATER SAW THOSE CHAIRS WERE CLOSE TO THE EDGE BUT DECIDED THE RISK WAS WORTH THE EXTRA TWO SEATS ON EACH SIDE OR WAS TOO LAZY TO RAISE THE ISSUE BECAUSE THEY BELIEVED NO ONE WOULD HAVE DONE ANYTHING ABOUT IT. WE HAVE THAT IN HEALTHCARE – PEOPLE NOT TAKING THE TIME TO LET LEADERSHIP KNOW ABOUT ISSUES THAT ARE UNSAFE). Please be rest assured that we will take this issue seriously (GOOD COMMENT BUT ACTIONS AND FOLLOW UP WILL SHOW HOW SERIOUSLY THEY ARE TAKING IT – IF THERE IS A FIX IN PLACE FOR TONIGHT'S SHOW THEN THEY ARE TAKING IT SERIOUSLY. IF NOT, THEY SHOULD TAKE THOSE TWO SEATS OUT OF THAT ROW ON BOTH SIDES UNTIL A FIX IS IN PLACE. IT IS AN ACCIDENT WAITING TO HAPPEN AGAIN – E.G. DENNIS QUAID NEWBORNS HEPARIN CASE) and I appreciate you getting in touch with us (GOOD SERVICE COMPANIES LIKE NORDSTROMS WOULD HAVE GOTTEN YOUR NAME THAT NIGHT AND CALLED YOU FIRST THING THE NEXT DAY TO MAKE SURE YOU WERE OK AND DOING WELL). Please contact me if you would like to discuss this issue further, I can be reached at 617-***-**** anytime (AGAIN, SHE SHOULD CONTACT YOU OVER THE PHONE OR A PERSONAL EMAIL WANTING TO TALK WITH YOU…NOT YOU HAVING TO CONTACT HER. IT WAS THEIR UNSAFE CONDITION. ONE MIGHT THINK SHE IS USING YOUR BLOG FOR DAMAGE CONTROL). Again, our sincerest apologies (AN APOLOGY WHICH IS NICE) for this unsettling accident (YES AN ACCIDENT BUT ONE CAUSED BY A FAULTY, UNSAFE SEATING SYSTEM THAT WAS PREVENTABLE.)
Best,
Catherine Carr Kelly
There are lots more comments over at Universal Hub, most blaming the victim. But two people who seem to get the point note the following:
(1) I am just back from that show (today--the next day), and I saw what Mr. Levy is talking about. I actually saw a chair right on the edge of the riser of that row - I was a little surprised to see it given the publicity of the incident yesterday.
(2)I am not familiar with this space but as a theatre technician that works at some of the larger playhouses in Boston the fact that there was no lip to prevent a chair from falling over the edge is inexcusable.
They make plastic lips that must be placed on the edges of these types of risers especially if audience or performers are sitting in chairs (band members especially, I remember how important it is that risers have these for band members). They are easy to fit and clip right on. If you don't have that or want to spend the couple bucks to get one, you gaff tape the heck out of the end chair so it will not move and you also add reflective/glow tape to all edges of the risers.
I am sorry this happened, it is the responsibility of the house manager to be aware of any problems or potential problems that could happen in a theatre space. She should have seen this potential risk before it happened. I have basic health and safety as well as risk management and prevention training and many technicians and management staff do. Preventing a problem like this is risk management 101, its like an easy 10 point question on the test. I don't know if she did but that issue should have been fixed that night because anything less than that is asking for a whole host of problems.
From Facebook: This was an unacceptable response at almost any organization I can think of. I'm astonished that CS Theater either (a) had no protocol for dealing with such an event or (b) hadn't trained the house manager. Both the root of the problem and the response are wide open for litigation.
What I can say about her response is that it is disheartening to hear about someone forgetting to just be human in their response to another person's suffering. Either out of fear of admitting their part in the accident, not wanting to go out of her way to get involved, just plain laziness or ignorance--this person had an opportunity to connect with both of you in a time of need and chose not to. The more people chose fear over connection to others, the world becomes disunited. That's upsetting.
So as not to repeat points made by others, the other parallel I see with healthcare is the apparent misdirected sense of who the theater company serves. Too often in health care, our delivery system is built around maximizing short-term financial reports and the preferences and conveniences of those who work in the facility - rather than the people we serve. This leads to a lack of focus on preventing and solving quality issues and an emphasis on finances and growth (see recent survey of hospital CEOs). I'm guessing that seat was placed there to maximize the audience. Perhaps if the theater was more interested in the quality of the experience of its audience - rather than the number of people in seats - they would have noticed this issue and resolved it prior to having the falsely reassuring 50 performances without a fall. It seems that the focus on theatrical success is on creativity - but are there examples of success tied to commitment to audience experience? Does Cirque du Soleil have a different culture than this theater? What is their commitment to artist and patron experience and safety? I honestly do not know.
I also think those of us in healthcare may be patting ourselves on the back more than we deserve. While many have articulated what we should do in dealing with a similar event in healthcare, are any of us confident that this is the most common response? Even in our own facilities?
Having recently been involved in an incident in a restaurant in Boston where a friend of mine was served a dish with mushrooms after specifically detailing his allergy to mushrooms, I can say that when situations like this are addressed with the steps outline by Jim Conway above, it is actually possible to walk away with a more positive experience than a negative one. After my friend checked his plate thoroughly before taking his first bite and noted the mushroom, disaster had been averted. The staff could have easily dismissed this as a mistake and replaced the dish quietly, but they disclosed the error to their manager quickly and he came to speak with us. He apologized, clearly explained the error, generously offered to pay for the meal, and then even thanked us for being patient with the staff and not storming out of the restaurant. By staying calm we had allowed them to prove that they have corrective mechanisms and likely even helped fortify some of those mechanisms for the future. His response as well as that of all the staff genuinely offered us assurance that this likely would not happen again, and we are now more likely to return in the future.
Ok, I'm going on the record as a former employee at Central Square Theater. In fact, I was the House Manager there for two years. So here is my inside opinion.
There is no way the House Manager would have known that you fell during the show unless you told her. Whether the cast memeber saw you for sure or not, they're too busy to make it all the way out to the front of house, and likley, too caught up in acting.
Secondly, there is absolutely NO MEDICAL TRAINING OFFERED WHATSOEVER. So you thinking that the House Manager should have offered first aid or asked you any further questions about your "injuries" is ridiculous. Clearly any "injuries" that you had weren't apparent. Now, asking you if she could get you some water or tea, if there was anything she could do make the situation better for you upon leaving the theater is not out of the question, and I would hope that she did at least that.
Also you should know that anyone on the Front of House staff has almost zero authority, is paid next to nothing, and has a very stressful job. I'm sure she passed along your information to someone who actually had the authority to do something about this problem. Where it goes from there is beyond her control, completely.
Lastly, her not offering to change the seating is again a product of the fact that she has no authority. Would you rather her have lied to you and said "Oh yes, of course we'll change the seating!" Not knowing whether that was possible or not?
I am sorry you were hurt, but don't blame the Front of House staff at Central Square Theater, thats like blaming someone that has a cold for being sick.
Thanks for the inside scoop, but I fear that you miss the point. This is not about blame. This is about a theater company that did not have proper procedures in place to handle the kind of situation that could arise. You don't need medical expertise to carry out the steps Jim Conway discusses above.
It is not the fault of the house manager of the day. It is the fault of the organization, something that needs the attention of its board of trustees.
I am so glad that neither you nor the other person was hurt. It sounds like an apology, an offer of help immediately (or at least at the end of the show), a follow up phone call the next day to check in with you, and a promise to remedy the situation for future theatre goers would have really been the right thing to do here.
It sounds like the house management didn’t have a standard protocol for managing these types of unexpected events – nor did they anticipate that there was this potential with those seats.
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