Letters to Editor: Shining a light on the missing usherettes

As a frequent patron of my local cinema I really believe it is time to bring back the ushers/usherettes who escorted people to their seats with torches and kept order in the cinema.

Usherette Norma McCracken at the New Victoria Cinema in Newington - once a common sight in Edinburgh. Picture: TSPL

This week I went to my local cinema with my elderly mother who has macular degeneration. She found the whole experience very difficult as the cinema was pitch black and no one to guide us to our seats.

With the introduction of multiplex cinemas the whole experience is becoming more impersonal and many times I have witnessed young people unable to keep off their mobile devices for two hours, texting while the film is showing, with no staff members in the cinema to discourage this behaviour.

I really feel that ushering staff had many useful functions and since their demise things have changed, not necessarily all for the better.

Mr Gordon Kennedy, Simpson Square, Perth

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