At a friend’s birthday dinner a couple of weeks ago, one of the guests there mentioned that they’d love to see more theatre, but they found the cost too prohibitive. It’s true that a couple of stalls tickets in a West End venue can make your eyes water in terms of cost (I have had holidays abroad for less!) It used to be the big musicals that would see theatres charging £100 plus for decent seats but now you’d expect to pay that for straight plays with named actors as well.
I’m not against theatres trying to make money but being so prohibitive to all but the well-off means that there’s a danger that theatre becomes an elitist art form and will put off actors, writers and directors (not to mention audience members) from working class or less-than-affluent backgrounds from attending or from entering the profession. If the theatre is there, as Shakespeare once wrote, to “hold a mirror up to nature” then it’s important that all human nature is shown and that the stories of those from different backgrounds are also reflected.
When the cost of theatre tickets is too high, no-one wants to take a risk. The theatres and producers won’t want to take a risk on a production that could potentially lose money so they’ll be adverse to backing risky ventures with unknown talent. Directors may want to hire a particular actor for a role but are pressured to hire “names” that are more likely to bring in a fan base or crowd. It’s one of my big bugbears that panto productions cast so many people from reality TV shows. Fine if they can sing or dance or act and actually DO the job but that’s often not the case simply because they haven’t had that training. Whereas you know some graduate has taken on the burden of huge student debts to put themselves through drama school and would do a much better job in the role if they were only given the chance.
The best theatre pushes boundaries and challenges preconceptions as well as entertains and enlightens us and when it becomes about trying to adhere to tried-and-tested means of ensuring financial success and playing it safe in order to guarantee bums-on-seats, the whole theatre experience falls short of what it could be.
However, there are ways of getting tickets without paying through the nose. If there’s a production you really want to see, my first recommendation would be to always try the theatre’s box office first. There are lots of sites (lastminute.com, discounttheatre.com, londonboxoffice.co.uk to name but a few) which offer discounted tickets but in my experience they aren’t as cheap as the cheapest seats the theatre can offer. Timeout and Amazon Local also buy a section of seats for a run of a particular play and can offer a mass discount on those seats. In the past, I have bought tickets to expensive West End shows through both Amazon Local and Timeout, although they have been for seats much further back in the theatre.
It can be difficult to predict which plays will be a hit or not but quite a number of plays that transferred to West End venues started off at other, less expensively-ticketed theatres. War Horse, The Curious Incident of the Dog and People, Places Things were all originally National Theatre productions. The Nether, Hangmen, and the hugely successful Jerusalem were all performed at the Royal Court Theatre first off and you could have bagged yourself a ticket (with an excellent view) to see any of those productions for less than £20. The Menier also has a history of hit productions that go on to have West End transfers, like the recent Funny Girl musical starring Sheridan Smith. The key is to be quick off the mark and to book these productions early on when ticket prices are low and the hype hasn’t yet had time to build.
The following would be my 5 TOP TIPS at securing great tickets for low prices at venues where, in my opinion, the standard of theatre is consistently high.
- The Young Vic – preview seats for their productions are usually £10 and then jump to £20 but the theatre is versatile in terms of seating arrangement and intimate enough for there to be virtually no “bad seats” in the house, so that you’re guaranteed a good view of the action. Their season is usually an interesting mix of classic works with a new “spin” on them or challenging new pieces. The theatre attracts actors, directors, writers and international companies of a high quality and does really interesting work. Rarely have I gone to the Young Vic and been bored by a production. Companies that have played there include Peter Brook’s ensemble, Isango Theatre and you can currently catch Joe Hill Gibbins’ fantastic version of A Midsummer Night’s Dream, complete with a stage full of mud.
- Day Seats – A number of theatres sell day seats which requires you to queue, either in person or online to get tickets at low prices. The Royal Court (which specialises in new writing) has a long-standing tradition of offering cheaper tickets on Mondays. Tickets are released online at 9am (10am from the box office) and the Donmar Warehouse operated a similar deal with £10 tickets being available each Monday for their shows within a 2-week window (although on their website currently there is no info about this so it’s worth double-checking to see if this scheme is still running). Demand for these tickets is extremely high and it’s worthwhile getting the date you want ready in your diary and going online 10 mins before tickets are released (tickets are limited to 2 seats per person). Sometimes, you then have to click the refresh button so check out the theatre’s website for more advice.
- The National Theatre – day seats are available for all National Theatre productions but it often means queuing that morning to see a matinee or evening show that same day. Depending on the production and who’s in it, you might have to start queuing generally from 7.30/8am for when the box office opens at 9.30am. There’s usually a nice camaraderie within the queue but you might want to pack clothing layers and an umbrella and maybe even a flask of tea/coffee as it can get cold standing outside for a hour or so. They also operate a Friday Rush which allows you to get £20 tickets for their shows for the following week. Check out more about their cheap tickets for shows at the NT and also for their West End transfers here.
- Preview Tickets – the performances before Press Night allow the chance for a production to settle in before the critics give their verdict and generally most preview performances are cheaper than the rest of the run after press night. Again, you have to book quickly and I would suggest signing up to a few mailing lists as that’s often the best way to find out what’s coming up and who’s in the cast. Being on the email list for various theatres means you can keep abreast of what’s happening and I would definitely recommend subscribing to the theatres listed above. It’s also worth subscribing to sites such as London Theatre (click here) which lists ALL the theatres in London including Off West End and fringe venues and tells you what’s on at a particular time.
- Off West End – if you baulk at paying West End prices, why not lend your support to smaller fringe and Off West End venues which, despite being above pubs and sometimes in rooms no bigger than your granny’s living room, still manage to attract great actors (whom you can see up close and personal) and interesting directors willing to take a chance and try experimental stuff. Particular favourites of mine are The Bush Theatre (for hot new writing), The Arcola (consistently good), Southwark Playhouse (which is enjoying a renaissance, especially when it comes to staging musicals) and Battersea Arts Centre. I’ve never seen anything there as yet but I wrote a piece about The Yard Theatre and what they’re trying to do within the community and they are definitely worth a look. They’ve had some sell-out productions with rave reviews, have created a theatre from little or no resources or funding, mentor up-and-coming writers and seem to have a talented and ambitious artistic director at the helm. Their vision is of an environmentally-friendly theatre for everyone, particularly for people who would not normally go to the theatre.
London is at the heart of some of the best theatre in the world and it is my belief that it should be made available and accessible to as wide an audience as possible. If you have any other suggestions or tips on how to see quality shows at reasonable prices please feel free to add your comment and share the info.
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