That theatre is entirely unaffordable for the average family?

[Florally]

I love theatre. I used to book for my family of 4 regularly and really enjoy it.

My kids recently saw a poster for ‘Christmas Carol Goes Wrong’ and loved the previous shows my the company so I thought I’d book it as a surprise.

It’s insane. If you don’t want to sit in the gods it’s basically £600 for a family of four minimum.

Who can afford that for one night out??

Am I missing something here?

Most activities are too expensive for families now… reminds me of the 90s…

Sit in the gods!
It's how I afford to go, or the restricted view seats.

Theatre pricing is not that crazy in Nottingham. Where do you live?

We always buy the cheapest seats. Never had a problem, other than the odd less than comfortable seat.

I've been to the Royal Exchange, Manchester and paid very low prices for preview seats and under 30s seats. As in, me and 2 kids for under £40 total. You have to search a bit on their website to find this out. Other theatres will have similar offers.

It’s crazy isn’t it? So expensive nowadays.

a friend recently told me she could’ve booked a family holiday for the cost of a west end show ( plus dinner and train tickets) for her family of 5.

I’m in London so can go on weekdays and wait for last minute tickets, but unless it’s something I’m really excited about, I don’t bother!

YANBU. I went to the theatre at Christmas but it was for the first time in a long while. It was a London production and the special VIP packages and seating were eye watering.

Yes! It’s one of the reasons I feel the decentering of London is happening. It’s too crowded, too expensive , and has lost its Londoners banter vibe and become tourist swamped.

I've bought tickets for this show and it was £50 each. Can you get to a theatre where tickets are cheaper? But in a nutshell, you're right. I use to go to theatre about once a month. Now it's about twice a year.

That’s the top tier seats though at £152, plenty of other pricing options available, down to £52

Disneys Hercules is £250 for a family of 4 in the stalls on certain week nights. Might be worth having a look.

YANBU. We saw Come Alive recently, it was absolutely brilliant, but £800 for 4. We save these for milestone bdays and end of gcse celebrations now.

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.

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.

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.

@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.

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

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.

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.

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 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’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.

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

TodayTix

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