Dear Jenny,

I had a very frustrating experience at the 9 PM performance of Tape on Saturday. I listened to the pre-show recording about “turn off all cell phones; if you leave you can’t return.” Then I watched two different patrons get up at two different times, (one at the 50-minute mark, and one at the 65-minute mark), wander across the front of the floor-level stage—they were actually onstage with the actors—and past the ushers sitting in the audience, and leave, letting the door slam shut behind them, Each walked back in, five minutes later, the door slamming behind them again, and walked across the stage back to their seats.

The ushers just let this happen. I volunteered as an usher at the Winnipeg Fringe for 8 years and the Edmonton Fringe twice and I remember sitting by the door at the back of the venue with an obstructed view of the stage, because your priority was to keep people from walking in during the performance—not to just watch the show. That was a bonus. I feel these volunteers need to receive more training. The usher should have followed the patron to the doorway and informed them that there was no re-admittance upon leaving, and stayed by the door to ensure there were no re-entry attempts.

Josh Knazan