Theatres should stop selling shitty view seats

Is this a joke ahahaha I'm 6' tall and literally the amount of people who tut or sigh or whisper when I find my ALLOCATED AND PAID FOR LIKE EVERYONE ELSE tickets even in the cinema. I bet you are the same type of person not wanting anyone to sit next to them on a plane because then they would have a row to themselves.. we have all paid, you have a choice wether to take your short arse to a play where tall people have also been allowed in (god forbid.) Rant over - all 6 feet of it.

No-one's blaming tall people. Generally people are saying theatres should be designed so that they can't obscure the view for people behind them.

The amazing atmosphere more than makes up for it. I’m jealous every time I switch on the TV!

In my case the ushers were telling them to sit down but they were just standing up again. I like to think if it happened now I'd make more of a fuss about it, but my dh had recently died so I probably wasn't feeling up to it.

I can appreciate that most of the theatres in London are a lot older than Broadway theatres in NY, but my experience in NY is that seats are generally staggered so you're centered between two people in front of you. The rake is also generally higher going back.

Unfortunately, whoever designs theatres here seems to accept what the older ones have as best practice and continue with putting seats one in front of the other on an almost flat surface. Very frustrating.

I prefer to book in the front row of the balcony if I can.

I agree, flags at Glastonbury drive me nuts.

Why aren't people challenging poor behaviour, either directly or through the ushers? I'm not talking about tall people but standing up or sitting in a manner to block your view etc. why is everyone so passive?

It's the same for many things, sometimes the view is questionable. I took ds2 to see Macbeth for his GCSE 's in Wimbledon, it was fine. Went to see the Killers 2022 Emirates stadium and there were big black poles blocking both sides of the screen.

I go a fair bit and views are generally ok. I go to a lot of local theatres, £12 a ticket at my local one and it’s fairly decent acting

Out if curiosity, what are tall people expected to do? I get none wants their view blocked, but a lot of height- ist comments going on in this thread.

We went to see Fiddler on the Roof a while back. We would have had an OK view from the balcony, but people in the front row of it who had paid for a seat with a view obstructed by a bar stood the whole time so we could see practically nothing.

Try going to see local groups rather than “big” shows. Usually the tickets are cheaper, better views and you’ll help charity groups! Win win all round

It doesn't really matter how much you check if you turn up on the day and there's a tall person in front of you. You can't always tell the angle of the rake from pictures.

I go to the theatre a lot & it is really easy to check out the view from most theatre seats.
Back in the day when I was young & poor I'd by the restricted view seats & 80%+ of the time be able to move to an ok view seat.

If you're spending ££££ then it's common sense to check out the seat & view of the stage.

Expensive seats. I’ll never pay that much!

I went to ‘ Two Strangers- Carry a cake across New York’, and got ‘restricted seats’ in row C. They were over half the price of seats further in. However, it didn’t matter, we got a superb view, close to the stage and didn’t miss anything. Would recommend these seats, and the play - funny, tender, entertaining.

I don't understand why theatres sell restricted view seats (even if they are cheaper) where a pillar or similar is blocking the view. Just don't put a seat there? You can normally work it out when booking though.

DH is very tall and we deliberately book end of aisle seats for that reason, ideally ones that protrude so there’s no seat behind him. It also means he can stick his legs out into the aisle and it’s a bit more comfy if there’s not much legroom.

I checked my emails and I paid £80 for 2 tickets from around that view (3-4 rows back on very top balcony) beck in 2018.

That seemed very good value for 5 hours of theatre. Leg too was awful and we had to lean forward during a watery scene.

I did go again and sat 10 rows back in stalls and loved being able to see the effects up close. I think paid £200 for 2 on that but was 50% off via a wizards unite game discount. I would never pay £400.

Trying a dance show at Sadler wells soon, hopefully that better than central London for views!

I got Matilda lotto seats for £25 in the stalls with good view.

I always look at view from my seat before I book anything which is rare now as its so expensive, its the same with concert tickets too especially stadiums, you can't see anything so can only watch the big screens for the bargain price of £175

I don't really have an issue with this if the tickets are a good bit cheaper. As a student and when I first started working I'd have got limited visibility tickets as a way to go but save money. So I think it's fine as long as its reduced and noted at booking what the view is like. I don't find that I pay that amount for the theatre but I guess it depends what you're seeing and where you're going.

Tickets for Harry Potter are crazily expensive but we were up there - on the front row - and I got them at the cheapest rate by booking as soon as they were released and so far in advance.

But it was made very clear the view was restricted and I checked what it was going to be like ahead of it. As PPs have said, there are ways you could have checked in advance. And as you're paying for two performances, it's expensive even for the cheapest seats.

There's no way I could have paid for decent seats. They cost hundreds and hundreds of pounds, so that was the compromise.

Someone might have linked to this but seat plan are the best. Support them.

In fact you can add your pic and review and inform future bookers. Firmly believe you should know what you are paying for and seat plan does that. You can then make a trade off decision.

i went to the theatre as a student solely on £10- £20 terrible view seats - I was there for the experience and it was the same as a movie ticket. Saw some amazing plays that involved leaning round rigging etc. but because I was young I didn’t get a sore neck or anything for being crumpled up. If it had only been good seats I wouldn’t have gone!

seatplan.com