I am fond of good books and good music, and when I have some timeto spare, I like to go to the theatre or a concert. There aremore than a dozen very good orchestras in Britain and some ofthem are world famous. Orchestras in Britain have no concerthalls of their own, but play in halls rented from localauthorities or private companies. There are 2 big concert hallsin London. The Old Royal Albert Hall and the New Royal FestivalHall, which is one of the most modern concert halls in the world.Theatrical perfomances are given by theatre companies. There areabout 200 professional theatres in Britain. Like orchestras, thetheatre companies usually play in rented theatres, but there areseveral theatres which have their own homes. The center of theactrical life is London. London is also the main center of operaand ballet. I am not particulaly fond of the cinema. Rather thentake trouble of going out to see a film, I would stay at home andwatch television. I seemed to share this attitude with the mostother people in Britain. In Britain the choice of films islimited to young people. Films are placed in one of threecategories in Britain. "U" - suitable for everybody, "A" - moresuitable for adults, "X" - suitable only for adults. A personunder 16 years of age may see an "A" filem only in company of anadult. Only person over 16 years of age may see "X" films. Those,who prefer to stay at home may spend their free time, watchingTV, listening to the radio. They have many TV and radio programsto choose from.
As for me, I am a great cinema-goer. I like the cinematremendously. I see all the best films that are on. I preferfeatures films, though I enjoy documentaries almost as much tosay nothing of animated cartoons films, news-reels or popularscience films. I usually go to the cinema for the morning or dayshows. If I want to go to an evening show I book ticketsbeforehand. I like to come to hte cinema a couple of minutesbefore the movie starts. If there is a long time to wait I canalways look at the portraits of film stars hanging on the wallsof the foyer, or listen to a little concert that is usually givenfor the spectators. It is a good idea, that those who are lateare not allowed to enter the hall until the news-reel is over. Ihate being disturbed when a film is on. If I like a movie verymuch I go to see it a second time and besides I see many of themovies televised. I often read the paper "Film Week" to knowwhich films have been released and which ones are being shot. Iknow all the famous script writers, producers and cameramen.
