The production company behind Wicked at Apollo Victoria Theatre
Wicked it is not.
What it is, is absolute trash.
I purchased two tickets for my partner and I from LondonTheatre.Co.Uk to see Wicked at the Apollo Victoria Theatre in London on 3rd Dec 2024.
The audio quality of the performance was so dire that not one single word of dialogue was intelligible. The sound quality can best be described as muffled, unintelligible, painful, scream-singing.
Without the ability to properly hear or understand the dialogue there is no means to follow the narrative progression of the plot. As a result my partner and I got up and left during the first act.
We complained to a female usher who was so disinterested in our complaint that she did not even trouble herself to stand from her seated position on the stairs leading to the lobby.
On arriving home I have since checked online and note page upon page of negative reviews, each pinpointing the poor sound quality of the performance as the source issue of their complaint.
The cast, crew, production company, tech team, ushers, theatre staff and ticket vendors must all be aware of the issue from first hand experience on site or from reading the huge number of negative reviews posted by disgruntled paying theatre goers.
Voilà! I have added my own negative review to the ever growing heap.
It is my understanding that in the act of LondonTheatre.Co.Uk taking payment for a performance that they knew in advance to be unintelligible due to its poor sound quality, LondonTheatre.Co.Uk committed fraud.
See: Fraud Act 2006.
2. Fraud by false representation (1) A person is in breach of this section if he— (a) dishonestly makes a false representation, and (b) intends, by making the representation— (I ) to make a gain for himself or another, or (ii) to cause loss to another or to expose another to a risk of loss.
Section 3 makes it an offence to commit fraud by failing to disclose information to another person where there is a legal duty to disclose the information.
A legal duty to disclose information may include duties under oral contracts as well as written contracts. The concept of “legal duty” is explained in the Law Commission’s Report on Fraud, which said at paragraphs 7.28 and 7.29: “7.28 …Such a duty may derive from statute (such as the provisions governing company prospectuses), from the fact that the transaction in question is one of the utmost good faith (such as a contract of insurance), from the express or implied terms of a contract, from the custom of a particular trade or market, or from the existence of a fiduciary relationship between the parties (such as that of agent and principal). 7.29.For this purpose there is a legal duty to disclose information not only if the defendant’s failure to disclose it gives the victim a cause of action for damages, but also if the law gives the victim a right to set aside any change in his or her legal position to which he or she may consent as a result of the non-disclosure. For example, a person in a fiduciary position has a duty to disclose material information when entering into a contract with his or her beneficiary, in the sense that a failure to make such disclosure will entitle the beneficiary to rescind the contract and to reclaim any property transferred under it.”
I raised a formal complaint requesting a full refund.
A Customer Experience Representative of LondonTheatre.Co.Uk named Pinna proved to be particularly unhelpful by focusing her response on my “lack of enjoyment” of the performance, rather than focusing upon the actual legal obligations of the providers of that experience to deliver a service for which they have been paid, namely a musical who’s narrative can be properly understood, or to disclose to customers in advance of the issues with the performance, such as poor audio in this instance, that would render the performance unintelligible.
I instructed Pinna to escalate my formal complaint to the attention of senior management and refund my account in full with immediate effect.
I informed Pinna that the fraud department state formal complaints be resolved within 15 working days of being raised after which point the fee will be recovered directly from the vendor.
I forewarned Pinna that London Theatre.Co.Uk will also likely be fined.
I reported all of the above to the Society of London Theatre and the Society of Ticket Agents and Retailers.
In reply to an email received from Arianne who offered vouchers as a "gesture of goodwill," I have now reported the matter to the fraud department and will report all parties to Westminster Trading Standards so that they may investigate the ongoing breaches of the Fraud Act 2006.
Put in simple terms: If you take payment for goods / services you must deliver. If you omit to tell the customer that you know you will fail to deliver, yet take payment anyway, that is fraud.