That theatre is entirely unaffordable for the average family?

Oh definitely! It was! Carnaby street, kings road, portobello road, Camden, great pubs, loads of live music, creative dressing, great art colleges and universities. Young people now say there’s nowhere where people actually dance. Can you imagine! Just very expensive places where they stand about and buy expensive drinks. All gone flat.

Central Tickets often have offers on

We go regulary and my DD is 28 and goes every week! DD and I went to the National Theatre last week , front row was £25, supposed to be restricted view, but they were brilliant seats.
DD also gets really cheap tickets on Bluelight and regular under 30 tickets for the Donmar and NT. Sometimes we get Rush tickets on Today TIx

Sadly it has stopped now but Theatre Roulette was a source of cheap tickets if you are not to fussy what you see.

I live in the North. I buy theatre tx up to a year in advance for top productions. The cheapest seats are £16 and the view is fine.

YANBU. I love the ‘Goes Wrong’ shows. Recently went to see The Comedy about Spies with DD2 and we were looking forward to seeing Christmas Carol Goes Wrong but bracing ourselves for the cost of the tickets!if you want good seats, London theatre is eye wateringly expensive.

OP, I couldn't agree more with you and I am in Outer London!

I first got into theatre in my 20s (more than 20 years ago now) when I used to get Showpairs vouchers with 2 4 1 tickets. Managed to see a lot of the top West End shows like that.

Then about 3 years ago I started booking Kids Week tickets for me and the family. But every year it gets worse and worse and I've not booked any for this year (yet) as the prices and availability are so bad.

I try to enter lotteries or get last minute tickets where possible, but refuse to pay more than £30 each to sit in the Gods!

Actually, it's for children 17 and under.

Our local bookshop has copies of Les Miserables, Harry Potter and all the Shakespeares, but it's hardly the same thing, is it?!

@Persephoknee it is sad, I used to think it was the best city in the world.

Are you just talking about big west end shows though? There is plenty of normal theatre out there for reasonable prices.

I live in London, and even so there are cheaper theatres. I never pay more than £40 per ticket, and wouldn't pay that much I if was paying for the whole family to go.
It helps if you know the theatre, or use Theatre Monkey to check the seats.

https://officiallondontheatre.com/kids-week/

TodayTix

Our little local cinema show live theatre productions. No travelling, the best seats and £15 a ticket.

I’m bombared with offered for west end shows for £25 all the time, so there’s always good offers. Not for the best seats usually but still a good night out and cheaper than dinner out. We saw mean girls a couple of weeks ago, bought nosebleed seats and on the day got upgraded for free to the stalls which was a bargain.

That aside, you can always support your local theatre groups for a good night out at much lower prices. There are some fantastic groups out there if you ask around for recommendations and they’d appreciate your support.

I agree, London theatre prices are insane, I assumed wealthy tourists mainly were going otherwise how do they fill the seats?! We live in Cambridge and it’s much cheaper to go to the theatre here thankfully!

I go to the theatre often and rarely pay more than £70 for a seat. You get a perfectly decent view at the far sides or rear sides of the stalls. Especially if you are on a budget you can’t expect top or close to top seats I’m afraid.
I never ever went as a child except on school trips; it wasn’t affordable for my family either.

I’m a Londoner too! It’s not London as we knew it, now. End of an era. I’ve had to come to terms with this.. I lived in central london for 25 years, and been in london all my life, loved it. But now… it’s commerce and crowds. Sad.

Try looking at kidsweek. Kids under 16 go free with an adult in July/August. They have just released this year’s tickets and will add others. Christmas Carol goes Wrong is touring which may reduce cost.

Christmas is the most expensive time of year
to go to the theatre - perhaps try booking another time?

@Persephoknee interesting you should say that. I'm a Londoner & obviously it has changed massively but I went central recently (don't go very often now) and it's certainly lost something.

You can find cheaper pantomimes outside the city centre.
Yanbu either.
So many things are out if reach for families.
The local Christmas pantomime is around €30/40 per person.

It’s got so expensive now, I tend to go on my own, I feel bad asking friends to spend £££ on a night out. But when you think about it, minimum wage going up, lighting and heating, set costs, NI increases, fuel and transport - everything that affects every other industry affects the theatre too.

I don't see the point in booking cheaper seats that are still expensive with a crappy view. I went frequently as a dc but only do it rarely now.