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Old theatres in London not fit for purpose

208 replies

Theatredisappointment · 13/04/2026 13:35

I went to the theatre last week for a birthday treat and now remember why we stopped going.

in the past I have paid hundreds of pounds only to have people in front of me wearing hats and obscuring the view, people wearing huge puffer coats who are about 7 feet tall again obscuring the view. I’ve had people squashed up to me in the next seat making it uncomfortably and impossible to move, as a short person even I noticed the lack of leg room which means people behind you have their legs pushing into the back of your chair constantly.

This time I saved up and purchased a seat in the circle with no one in front of me. Amazing I thought I won’t have to worry about getting a tall person in front of me. Of course I hadn’t anticipated there would be a morbidly obese person behind me. She’d bought 2 seats obviously aware there wasn’t room for anyone next to her but instead my family and I and the person sitting next to me had to endure her body pressing into the back of our seats her stomach was hanging over onto my neck. Every time she moved which was constantly the whole row of seats moved and people were complaining.

It was a horrendous experience. I said nothing to this woman as obviously she couldn’t help it. During the interval I and the lady sat next to me asked a member of staff if we could move, explaining the problem, but were told the theatre was full.

I don’t blame this woman I blame the theatre (The Ambassador) who have squashed as many seats in as possible with zero leg room. They knew she’d booked two seats and would have seen why when they checked her ticket and yet they allowed everyone in seats nearby to suffer.

The whole theatre needs a refit. It’s unacceptable that you pay hundreds of pounds to be put in a tiny seat with zero leg room and the seats aren’t even staggered making it OK for only the tallest people to see the stage! Never again.

OP posts:
Theatredisappointment · 13/04/2026 13:47

littlemiss are you the morbidly obese woman in the theatre?

OP posts:
Octavia64 · 13/04/2026 13:45

A lot of the theatres in London are listed buildings. You aren’t allowed to just refit them.

LittleMissClutter · 13/04/2026 13:45

Theatredisappointment · 13/04/2026 13:43

littlemussclutter have you heard of a REFIT

Yes, have you heard of stupidity?

So they're supposed to take out two seats and replace them with one large one?

Thus needing to double the price of an already very expensive theatre ticket?

Catch yourself on.

helpfulperson · 13/04/2026 13:45

Theatredisappointment · 13/04/2026 13:43

littlemussclutter have you heard of a REFIT

Are you prepared to pay twice as much for your tickets to cover the refit and loss of capacity?

Theatredisappointment · 13/04/2026 13:43

littlemussclutter have you heard of a REFIT

OP posts:
LittleMissClutter · 13/04/2026 13:41

I don’t blame this woman I blame the theatre (The Ambassador) who have squashed as many seats in as possible with zero leg room.

Yeah I imagine when the theatre was built in 1913 they didn't really think about future fatties 🙄

Arlanymor · 13/04/2026 13:39

What are theatre staff supposed to do at the point they check her tickets when she arrives and it is a full to capacity theatre? They can’t magic up space. Maybe she mentioned the issue when she booked and maybe she didn’t and just booked two tickets thinking it would be sufficient, you can’t possibly know unless you spoke to her. It is entirely the patron’s responsibility to check that they are booking spaces that they will be able to use without impacting on others. I used to work with a very large man who when he flew would book a while row of seats to himself for exactly this reason. Also not sure where this money for a refit would come from given the arts sector is on its knees. Plus some people like old fashioned and historic venues - many of which are protected and cannot be easily modified if at all.

Oddgain · 13/04/2026 13:39

I love them. Always sit there before the show commences and think how beautiful they are and atmospheric

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