The Theatre Experience

I couldn’t have left Moscow having not visited The Bolshoi Theatre. That’s why when a few of my friends decided to go and watch The Three Oranges, I jumped at the chance.

I can safely say, the experience exceeded my wildest expectations, for the most unimaginable reasons.

Waiting for a ticket 

Firstly, I highly recommend getting a student ticket to anyone studying in Russia. This is because for the equivalent of £2, you get to watch any performance that has left over tickets. The only thing is however, you have to purchase them on the day. This is where our adventure for the evening started.

In the most, touristy and British way possible, the group and I decided to make our way to the theatre kiosk early, in order to avoid queues. One thing we didn’t bank on was the fact that this was Russia and nothing was ever done in an ordinary way.

After several awkward exchanges of words and a wait in a line that consisted of only us (clearly, they wanted an excuse to laugh at the foreigners), someone out of pity, approached us to say we were doing it all wrong. It turns out that there was no need to queue at all. Rather, you write your name down on a list then go away and come back to pay nearer the time. This didn’t stop us from having to wait in a cage like contraption later on, complete with more pandemonium. As I watched people pushing in and angry members of staff coming out to shout at unsuspecting students, I was acutely reminded of one thing;  it just wouldn’t be the Russian way if there wasn’t disorder and chaos.

Stairway in the theatre

The Show

My lesson on the country’s etiquette did not stop once I had sucessfully obtained my ticket. After finding my seat and getting over how beautiful the decor was inside, the real show began – and I’m not talking about the performance.

Five minutes into the first act, a full blown argument erupted when one late comer realised someone had stolen his seat. I would like to take this time to point out that this ‘someone’ was a militant babushka and so the poor fellow did not have a chance of claiming it back. I would also like to point out that there was a free, available seat close by but in true Russian style, the two slugged it out loudly. The battle of the seat continued until members of staff attempted to come and stop them, also by shouting.

This Russian homage to Jeremy Kyle made the evening. In fact, if I had left the theatre after that, I would gone home convinced that I had watched a good show. However, I had paid (if only £2) to see “The Three Oranges”, which also turned out to be entertaining.

Overall experience – 10/10

For the chance of going through a short Russian assault course to buy a ticket and the possibility of seeing two shows for the price of one, I definitely recommend this experience to anyone!

And if you don’t believe me, watch it for yourself: