Royal Court Theatre to actively encourage parents to take babies into the auditorium

The theatre has invited parents with babies to attend a special performance of the Penelope Skinner play Linda

Noma Dumezweni takes the title role in the play ‘Linda’ at the Royal Court Theatre in London

Having premiered works by the likes of Samuel Beckett and the “angry young man” John Osborne, the Royal Court Theatre in London has long enjoyed a reputation for risk-taking, groundbreaking productions.

Now, however, it is to venture where few theatres dare to tread: it will actively encourage parents to take babies into the auditorium.

The theatre has invited parents with babies under the age of one to attend a special “relaxed performance” of the Penelope Skinner play Linda on 19 December, “with an infant on their lap at no extra charge”.

Other theatres have encouraged babies into comedy cabarets or performances specifically aimed at infants, but few venues have ever tried such a measure for a full-length play aimed at adults.

“If we are not the first, then we are one of the first to do this with a play that has not been specifically written for children or babies,” a Royal Court spokesperson said.

Although the performance will be a one-off, it does suggest a relaxing of theatreland’s traditional anxieties about infants. Many theatres impose special “babies in arms” policies. The Pavilion Theatre in Glasgow, for example, says on its website: “Please ensure that when winding your child, every effort is made to avoid your baby being sick. We have had numerous complaints from customers who have had their evening spoiled and clothes damaged due to babies being sick over them.

It asks that “babies crying must be removed from the auditorium as quickly as possible”. And it instructs theatre-goers to change nappies outside the auditorium.

The Royal Court, however, decided to try to invite babies after the success in the spring of its first relaxed performance, of Roald Dahl’s The Twits. This catered for children with autism and learning difficulties by making adjustments in sound and lighting and letting audience members move about and make noise.

The Royal Court spokesperson said that while planning the relaxed performance of Linda for the over-14s, “We decided to open it up to parents with babies, people who would like to experience the theatre but who might not feel comfortable about going there with a baby.”