VOTE: Smoking allowed in Octagon play

8:11am Saturday 8th March 2008

AUDIENCES are being given the chance to cancel their tickets for an Octagon play - because cast members will be smoking on stage.

Actors will light up for the first time at the Octagon since the smoking ban was introduced last July.

The play, Road, is exempt from the law because of a clause which says smoking is allowed if it is needed to "maintain artistic integrity".

But Octagon theatre bosses have decided to consult audiences and have sent 3,500 letters to patrons offering them ticket refunds or seats further away from the stage.

Monika Neall, head of communications at the Octagon, said: "Smoking is an integral part of Road and we wouldn't be able to stage the performance without it.

"With the smoking ban now in force, people may not be expecting it, so we needed to let them know there was going to be smoking.

"Generally, people have been grateful that we have let them know. About 20 people have asked for a refund and no-one has asked to move seats.

"The cigarettes smoked will be herbal ones and not tobacco."

Road is a production written by Bolton-born playwright Jim Cartwright.

It is a gritty tale of life in a Lancashire town in the 1980s, complete with strong language - and cigarettes.

Jane Harrison, a patron of the Octagon, was among the thousands of people to be contacted about the smoking on stage.

She said smoking is acceptable if used for the right reasons.

"If you get an artistic image and it is part of the show in some way, I suppose they are artistically entitled to do it," she said.

"If it's part of the scene they are trying to project, we have to give them the leeway and artistic licence to get their story across".

Road runs until Saturday, March 29, and will be followed by three other productions which also include scenes with smoking.

The offer of money back or seats further back also applies in those cases.

The letter sent by the Octagon says: "Theatrical performances are exempt from the smoking ban when artistic integrity makes it appropriate, but as this is the first time we have had smoking on stage since the law was introduced we are writing in case this information may mean you want to exchange to seats further away from the stage, or indeed if you would prefer not to see the performance and would like a refund."

Pressure group Ash - Action on Smoking and Health - last night praised the Octagon's efforts in informing audiences, but said actors could pretend to smoke.

A spokesman said: "These people are actors so you'd think that may be they would be able to act it.

"What they are doing is legal and ASH is perfectly happy with the law as it stands.

"It is best to be avoided, but the Octagon seems to be handling it fairly responsibly and within the law."

Angela Kelly: The column you love to read