Meanwhile, the Old Vic has completed some renovations.

Yesterday we officially opened our building after nine months of renovations to double the number of loos and improve accessibility.

When you come to visit us you might notice something a little different about our new loos. First, there are double the number – 44 loos within the building.

Our loos now offer ‘self-selection’ rather than being labelled male or female. This takes a descriptive, rather than prescriptive, approach following advice from surveys conducted with focus groups.

Uh oh…

When you arrive in the theatre, you will see labels signposting which blocks contain cubicles and which contain urinals. We also have one specifically designed gender neutral loo.

So men will be able to use all of them, while women are able to use only the ones with cubicles. This is a good plan because…???

You can choose which one you want to use, rather than responding to a label placed on you which you may not identify with.

You know…when I’m at a theater and needing to pee at intermission when there’s always a massive line/queue for the women’s I’m really not thinking about what label I “identify with”; I’m thinking about how unlikely it is that I’ll be able to get in the door before intermission is over.

But actually that’s true even when there isn’t a rush and it’s not now or never – it’s true pretty much always. Public toilets are not a big Identity Moment, they’re a utilitarian necessity that one wants to get into and out of as expeditiously as possible.

As Caroline Criado-Perez put it:

So @oldvictheatre has refurbished their toilets, and ended up giving men 18 facilities practically speaking just for them, plus 24 they share with women. So that’s 42 men have access to. Meanwhile women have access to 24, that they share with men. This is an improvement how?

And Tracy King:

Am I getting this right, they expect women to go into a room that has urinals where men have their nobs out to piss and just happily wander in to use the cubicles? That’s what Old Vic is asking? That women do that?

Here’s what will happen: women will not use the room where men are holding their penises. Instead, we will use the other room, except men can also use that room so there is literally nowhere free from men that we can be at our most vulnerable. Lawsuits.

In the meantime…well, I guess just avoid drinking anything for several hours before you go to see a play at the Old Vic.