Michael Billington on the best seats in the house

The Guardian: "One of the things people most dislike about critics is that we traditionally occupy the best seats. Only recently, I got a letter suggesting that my intense enjoyment of the RSC Romeo and Juliet was dictated by where I sat. Had I been in the back row of the balcony of Stratford's Courtyard theatre, I was told, I'd have had difficulty hearing the actors. Indeed I was challenged, in future, to try out the worst seats in the house. It's not a challenge I intend to take up.