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You can hear some of the best music in the world in Britain, and see some of the best opera, ballet and plays.
There are two opera houses in London: one where opera's sung in English and one where opera's sung in the language that it was written in. And there are three important ballet companies: one performs modern ballet and the other two perform classical ballet.
Four of the best orchestras in the world are London orchestras, and sometimes in London there are nine or ten concerts in one evening! There are also 'pop' concerts, when thousands of young people go to the big parks to listen to modern music.
If you want to see good new plays, you can go to the theatres in the West End, the area near Piccadilly Circus. A lot of these theatres are beautiful old buildings, and, if you don't enjoy the play, you can always enjoy the theatre. You can also usually see two or three plays by Shakespeare, and there are a lot of small theatres in cellars where young people act plays that say how bad the world is.
But remember that the British always behave very well in the theatre or cinema. If you talk after the film or play or music has started, hundreds of heads will turn, and everyone will look angrily at you. And you should never arrive late. If you do, the British will stand up very politely so that you can go past, but you'll find that they've carefully put their feet or their umbrellas or their handbags in your way. When you arrive at your seat, you'll feel too weak to enjoy the play! If someone's late at a concert or at the opera or ballet, he isn't allowed to go to his seat until the interval. Sometimes people must stand for an hour and a half!
Cinemas in Britain are quite different from theatres. You can smoke in a cinema, but you mustn't smoke in a theatre. In a cinema, the balcony seats are often more expensive than the seats in the stalls; but in a theatre, the higher seats are less expensive.
There are two important things that the foreigner ought to know about British cinemas and theatres. He shouldn't give a tip to the girl who takes him to his seat — she'll be very angry! And if he hears music before a play or after a film, he should stand up. The music will be the British National Anthem. You'll see a lot of British people rushing out of the cinema at the end of a film, so that they needn't stand and wait until the National Anthem finishes!