Beauty and the Beast Pantomime at The Hexagon, Reading
Date of Visit: 28th December 2025
Venue: The Hexagon, Reading
Perspective: Acoustic Consultant & Audience Member
Live theatre offers a rare opportunity to experience how architectural acoustics, sound reinforcement, and audience engagement come together in real time. On 28th December 2025, I attended the Beauty and the Beast pantomime—an audience-interactive musical—at The Hexagon, Reading.
This blog captures my observations from both an acoustic engineering and audience experience perspective.
The Auditorium: Acoustic Design & Listening Experience
The Hexagon is a standalone performance venue, which typically allows greater freedom in controlling reverberation time, bass response, and sound containment. The 5:00 pm show opened for entry at 4:00 pm, and I was seated at K56 in the balcony.
Seating, Geometry & Visibility
The balcony elevation was well designed, providing clear sightlines across the stage. The seating was cushioned, though from a comfort perspective, the row spacing felt tight, particularly for taller audience members.
The balcony centre was around 80–90% occupied, while the side areas—likely box seating—remained largely unused. The front rows of the stalls appeared occupied, although my observations are primarily from the balcony position.
From a visibility standpoint, the multi-level stage design worked well for balcony seating. However, it is likely that some audience members in the front rows may not have had full head-to-toe visibility of performers at certain stage positions—an important consideration in stage and rake design.
Acoustic Treatment & Sound System Performance
The auditorium ceiling incorporated perforated metal panels with acoustic absorption, and reflective elements appeared to be angled strategically to prevent sound energy from reflecting back onto the stage—helpful in reducing performer disturbance and feedback.
The venue used array loudspeakers, delivering good clarity and intelligibility throughout the show. However, the space felt highly absorptive, resulting in a sound experience that was clearly electro-acoustically driven rather than acoustically immersive.
Because the performance relied entirely on microphone reinforcement, there was minimal sense of spatial sound or lateral reflections. The sound predominantly originated from the front, with limited left-right interaction—something that becomes more noticeable to trained ears.
Loudness, Bass & Room Response
Being a standalone venue, the show was played at relatively high sound levels, particularly during energetic musical sequences and the final dance numbers. Despite this, there was a noticeable lack of low-frequency impact.
This raised an interesting acoustic question:
- Was the bass absorption too high within the room?
- Or was the low-frequency content deliberately restrained, considering the family-friendly, child-focused nature of the pantomime?
Given that the music was occasionally played at high volumes, the absence of bass presence was noticeable and likely influenced by the room’s overall acoustic absorption and system tuning.
Directionality & Performance Acoustics
For a light-hearted pantomime, the existing setup works reasonably well. However, for dramatic or serious theatrical productions, the lack of directional audio cues becomes a limitation.
Ideally, such performances benefit from:
- enhanced left-centre-right microphone imaging, and
- sound reinforcement that preserves performer localisation and movement on stage.
Achieving this effectively would require a rethinking of the auditorium’s electro-acoustic strategy, particularly for higher-end theatrical acts.
The Performance: Stagecraft, Visuals & Engagement
From a creative perspective, the production was visually impressive.
Stage Design, Visuals & Costumes
The stage design was elegant and expansive, supported by animated screen visuals that were well synchronised with the narrative. The performers made excellent use of the stage depth and width, and the costumes were vibrant, detailed, and visually engaging—particularly appealing to younger audiences.
Choreography & Audience Response
There were moments of imperfect synchronisation in the choreography, but these did not detract significantly from the overall experience. Given the wide stage, it is likely that many audience members naturally focused on central performers, with peripheral action receiving less attention.
As expected, the children in the audience were fully engaged—laughing, responding to cues, and enjoying the interactive elements that define a good pantomime.
Speech Intelligibility: A Key Observation
One notable drawback was related to sound balance during dialogue. Whenever the witch spoke, the accompanying music was raised to such high levels that parts of her speech were masked, reducing intelligibility.
From an acoustic consulting perspective, this highlights the importance of music-speech balance, especially in productions where dialogue carries narrative weight.
Final Thoughts: An Enjoyable Experience with Acoustic Learnings
Considering the elegant stage design, beautiful costumes, well-executed visuals, and light-hearted audience interaction, Beauty and the Beast – The Pantomime delivers an enjoyable theatre experience—particularly for families with children.
From an acoustic standpoint, the venue performs well for amplified, entertainment-driven shows, while offering valuable insights into how absorption, sound reinforcement, and directionality influence audience perception.
I would recommend the show for its creativity and festive appeal, while also recognising that venues like The Hexagon present interesting opportunities for further acoustic refinement, especially for more demanding theatrical productions.
Why This Matters for Acoustic Design
Live performances remind us that good acoustics are not just about measurements, but about how audiences feel, engage, and connect with a performance. Observations from real venues continue to inform better auditorium design, tuning, and consulting decisions.
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