Puppetry of the Penis - Complaint Letter, 2001
Title
Puppetry of the Penis - Complaint Letter, 2001
Date
2 October 2001
Description
Complaint letter received on 2 October 2001 about audience members during a performance of Puppetry of the Penis at the Theatre Royal.
What's the story?
Puppetry of the Penis was a comedy show conceived by two Australians Simon Morley and David Friend, in which they manipulated their genitalia, along with comic narration, into various well-known shapes, such as the Eiffel Tower and the Loch Ness Monster.
The act was first performed on the international stage at the 1998 Melbourne International Comedy Festival and quickly became a global hit.
Following success at the Edinburgh Fringe in 2000, a large UK national tour took place the following year.
The show came to the Theatre Royal in September 2001, and as you can see from related links on this site it attracted a lot of media coverage in the weeks coming up to the performance.
Here we have an interesting complaint related to the show. The gentleman concerned has no qualms with the show itself (tickets to see it were a birthday present from his wife and he found it ‘hilarious’), but with certain audience members.
As you can see the complainant felt rightly intimidated, when the mainly female audience started using the male toilets at the interval. One doesn’t doubt his concerns, particularly when sworn at so blatantly. However, it certainly is an unusual occurrence and interesting to note the letter-writer’s description of a woman’s bathroom habits.
To understand the references to ‘the hamburger’ and ‘the windsurfer’ it is recommended that you look at the related Puppetry of the Penis related links.
It is also worth noting that this gentleman’s recommendations for extra female toilets was taken forward, albeit nine years later, when extra provision was provided at the Theatre Royal in 2010.
The letter in full:
‘Dear Sir,
I feel I must bring to your attention the treatment I received on the evening of September 8th.
That day was my birthday and for a special treat my wife took me to see the two rather unusual Australian chaps performing rather painful looking exercises and tricks with their erogenous zones.
The performance was hilarious but unfortunately the evening was ruined, for me, when I had to visit the gents at the interval.
I was alone in the gents in the ‘sit down’ cubicle when all I could hear was drunken giggling from outside the door, not men but women!
When I opened the door I was greeted by the site of at least 10 women inside the gents waiting to use the toilet.
When I complained I was told to “f**k off” by the one at the front before I get punched.
I mentioned this to what looked like a security guard who just smiled. I also asked that if I as in the ladies would I be thrown out and he said “definitely mate”.
Unfortunately I had to visit the toilet the gents again and on this occasion myself, and others, were met with drunken women who asked us to show them our “hamburger”. Several men objected to them being there but again were told to “f**k off”.
I appreciate that the show was aimed at a more female orientated audience but this type of rude and aggressive behaviour is totally unacceptable, especially when they should not have been there in the first place!!!
To feel intimidated and belittled in your own loo is totally out of order and, as I have already said, ruined what should have been a good night out for me, on my birthday.
May I make a suggestion?
More female toilets are needed for one simple fact of life; a man needs only to unbutton his fly to do his business but a woman on the other hand has pants, tights, leggings etc before she can even sit down! Plus the usual chat that goes with it …
I hope you consider my ideas, however tongue in cheek as I would like to come back to the theatre again as I think it has great atmosphere but no way will I return if all I will be met with is calls of “can you do a windsurfer then?”
I await, with anticipation, your reply.
Yours sincerely …’
The act was first performed on the international stage at the 1998 Melbourne International Comedy Festival and quickly became a global hit.
Following success at the Edinburgh Fringe in 2000, a large UK national tour took place the following year.
The show came to the Theatre Royal in September 2001, and as you can see from related links on this site it attracted a lot of media coverage in the weeks coming up to the performance.
Here we have an interesting complaint related to the show. The gentleman concerned has no qualms with the show itself (tickets to see it were a birthday present from his wife and he found it ‘hilarious’), but with certain audience members.
As you can see the complainant felt rightly intimidated, when the mainly female audience started using the male toilets at the interval. One doesn’t doubt his concerns, particularly when sworn at so blatantly. However, it certainly is an unusual occurrence and interesting to note the letter-writer’s description of a woman’s bathroom habits.
To understand the references to ‘the hamburger’ and ‘the windsurfer’ it is recommended that you look at the related Puppetry of the Penis related links.
It is also worth noting that this gentleman’s recommendations for extra female toilets was taken forward, albeit nine years later, when extra provision was provided at the Theatre Royal in 2010.
The letter in full:
‘Dear Sir,
I feel I must bring to your attention the treatment I received on the evening of September 8th.
That day was my birthday and for a special treat my wife took me to see the two rather unusual Australian chaps performing rather painful looking exercises and tricks with their erogenous zones.
The performance was hilarious but unfortunately the evening was ruined, for me, when I had to visit the gents at the interval.
I was alone in the gents in the ‘sit down’ cubicle when all I could hear was drunken giggling from outside the door, not men but women!
When I opened the door I was greeted by the site of at least 10 women inside the gents waiting to use the toilet.
When I complained I was told to “f**k off” by the one at the front before I get punched.
I mentioned this to what looked like a security guard who just smiled. I also asked that if I as in the ladies would I be thrown out and he said “definitely mate”.
Unfortunately I had to visit the toilet the gents again and on this occasion myself, and others, were met with drunken women who asked us to show them our “hamburger”. Several men objected to them being there but again were told to “f**k off”.
I appreciate that the show was aimed at a more female orientated audience but this type of rude and aggressive behaviour is totally unacceptable, especially when they should not have been there in the first place!!!
To feel intimidated and belittled in your own loo is totally out of order and, as I have already said, ruined what should have been a good night out for me, on my birthday.
May I make a suggestion?
More female toilets are needed for one simple fact of life; a man needs only to unbutton his fly to do his business but a woman on the other hand has pants, tights, leggings etc before she can even sit down! Plus the usual chat that goes with it …
I hope you consider my ideas, however tongue in cheek as I would like to come back to the theatre again as I think it has great atmosphere but no way will I return if all I will be met with is calls of “can you do a windsurfer then?”
I await, with anticipation, your reply.
Yours sincerely …’
Type
Letter
Location of item
Theatre Royal & Royal Concert Hall Nottingham
Rights
Theatre Royal & Royal Concert Hall Nottingham
Contributor
Researcher: Colin Barnard
