How to keep thousands of people happy and safe in a theatre

One of the great Chichester Festival Theatre rituals – if you are sitting in the audience – is watching the member of staff whose job it is to walk up one set of steps, walk across the front of the stage, mutter into a microphone and then disappear down another set of steps.
By Phil Hewitt
Published 22nd Mar 2024, 09:05 BST
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That’s the moment we all know that the show is about to begin. It’s all about safety, readiness and comfort, explains Ben Geering, head of customer operations at the CFT – and the who man makes that cross-stage journey at least once a week.

“I was in the audience for the James Bond concert the other night and I was watching colleagues do exactly that walk, popping up one set of stairs and then disappearing down another. It's about health and safety. It is about checking that the audience are in their seats and that all the lower aisles are clear of obstructions. There's certainly method in it!”

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And there's also a degree of self-consciousness being in the limelight with thousands of eyes on you. There can be quite a hush accompanying that journey.

Ben Geering, Head of Customer Operations, Chichester Festival Theatre (contributed pic)Ben Geering, Head of Customer Operations, Chichester Festival Theatre (contributed pic)
Ben Geering, Head of Customer Operations, Chichester Festival Theatre (contributed pic)