Prominent operatic and theatrical director Jonathan Miller is taking shots at the audiences at large venues such as London’s Royal Opera House, saying that “when people pay £150 a seat to see a production funded by the state, there is a sort of desire to see, reflected from the stage, an image of their own wealth.” Miller prefers small theaters packed with devotees, where “you don’t feel like you are waiting for the interval to go to the crush bar where you’ve ordered very grand drinks, and you bear your wife there like an ornamental hawk on your wrist. That’s when I hate the arts. When it’s enjoyed by a group of people who are there to display their privilege.”