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?

Definitely a hobby for the rich now.

We’re not in London, but even with the cheapest seats for a family of 4 you wouldn’t get much change from £200. To be honest I’d rather have a night away than sit in an uncomfortable seat for a couple of hours.last panto I saw, was bloody awful, spectacularly awful buttons who was a creepy, angry pervert. The only good cast were the ugly sisters and they had very few lines. It was stupidly loud and uncomfortable viewing in more ways than one.
but coming from a theatre family, the cost of these productions are absolutely eye watering, and if the cast have famous thespians their fees are high (it’s a well paid profession, but it needs to be, because they’ll be months of no work at all) then the lighting and sound engineers, producers, backstage crew, musicians prop designers, hire of the stage etc etc etc cost ££££ so it’s not surprising it can be expensive.
Our local am-dram group is good though, so we support that, might be in the village hall, but we’ve seen some really good plays and musicals.

Yes! I’ve been to a couple of local am dram productions in village halls that were amazing too. Def worth going if they’re doing something you’d like to see.

I agree it is v expensive nowadays and I wish it wasn't, although I know it's complicated.

That said, the "good" seats are always going to be a more expensive and that is a choice. You can't expect the best seats in the house for average prices. You've (quite rightly) decided it's not worth it to you, but others will feel differently or have different budgets. It sucks, but I'm not sure there is a way around it.

Of the shows I've seen in the last few years, only one was in "great" seats in the stalls. For the others I booked "average" or "cheap" seats, and looked on theatre monkey/view from my seat type websites to work out what I was happy paying for depending on the show/who was coming/the layout of the theatre etc.

I know this isn’t at all helpful to the OP (sorry) but in Manchester I can almost always get the £15 tickets on the day they go on sale, booking Palace or Opera House through ATG tickets.

I was really impressed that I could change the date for a small admin fee the other day, when my plans had changed.

But you're not going to the theatre. You're not there "in the room where it happens." It's very much a lesser experience.

A lot of things are too expensive now, sadly. I'll probably go to the theatre once a year from now on, if that. Same with other days out because I just can't afford it. I also go on holiday once a year, no weekends away or anything. It's just the way it is. I'll be sad if these places close (Oakwood for instance) but I don't know what the answer is.

I've started doing this, supporting local theatre groups. Less travel, less money and being more aware of what's going on in the community makes me feel like I'm contributing in what little way I can. 😊

Another one saying give local AmDram a chance. Ive seen Shrek in London, and by the local group. The AmDram was better.

If it’s not been said already, a National theatre at home subscription is an amazing option to see lots of shows you’d never get to see otherwise. At £99 a year if you watch two shows you’ve covered your cost. With the benefit of giving up on plays you don’t enjoy.

National Theatre also do Friday Rush where they sell tickets for £10
https://www.nationaltheatre.org.uk/fridayrush/

For families NT are bringing back Ballet Shoes which is a really lovely show , definitely worth the seeing, and no bad seats really in the NT.

Not just London. Matilda is touring next year. It's coming to our local theatre. Tickets are £65-88. The £65 ones are near the back/sides of the stalls and circle. They say "from £25", but the cheap tickets are the very back row in the corner and to be able to snag them you have to be online the moment booking opens.

We've seen it before and loved it but just cannot justify it at almost £200 for 3 of us.

Yes it’s incredible which is why we go once a year max, and actually haven’t been for a couple.

There are ways of going cheaper- eg the front row at Wicked for amazing seats is £30.
We go to the theatre a lot and they are pretty much always full so I don’t think they’ll be reducing the price anytime soon.

Day seats have all but disappeared too, since the Pandemic. You used to be able to queuup on the day and get a ticket for a tenner. Now it's mostly online, on Today Tix and you've got very little hope of getting one.

If you read another thread there is a lot of debate going on about the cost of tradesman. It seems the average daily rate for an electrician carpenter etc is £300. Lots of support on that thread for them charging those rates.

With that in mind think of the cost of putting on a production. The costumes,wigs,set,orchestra,singers and dancers. There will also be electricians and carpenters building the set and sound engineers. A lot of people are involved behind the scenes not just those on stage.
The theatres need to be heated,cleaned,insured and renovated. This all comes at a price.

Compared to the price of a ticket to see the football theatre doesn't seem too bad.

I'm in London and have managed to get cheap theatre tickets via the TodayTix app.

I saw Witness for the Prosecution last month for £16 (these were the nosebleed restricted seats) and Retrograde for £15 recently (dress circle seats).

I somehow have credit as I've used TodayTix a few times now. I'd recommend it.

I love plays rather than musicals and enjoy seeing the big name productions - prices are becoming the watering! I quite often go on my own for that reason.
Stalls seats for the recent Much Ado About Nothing with Tom Hiddleston/Hayley Attwell were over £300 each! And David Tennant’s Macbeth were over £250.
Though I often use Today Tix and get a bargain. I just saw Tamsin Greig in Deep Blue Sea, front row for £40. She was fantastic.

We did pay anything like £250 for Macbeth , but we went to Donmar DD was a member so i think we paid about £70 for stalls, but Donmar is tiny.

I took my DS who was studying it for GCSE and is a big Dr Who fan when it moved to Harold Pinter Theatre. The only seats left were the premium stalls seats which were around £275 each. There were deals and cheaper seats if you got in quickly.

My Dcs are working their way through the Doctor Whos at the theatre🤣

I was thinking this yesterday as I sat in my £65 restricted view seat…

Worth checking non private schools too…..🤣

Today tix is great, if you are close to central London. If you're not, the bargain ticket is cancelled out by not booking train travel in advance.

I'm not massively far from central London - 2 hours by train, so I can snd have go for an evening - but far enough that same day tickets are very impractical!

I also hate paying loads for a ticket and ending up with an audience full of people chatting/moving/wrapper rustling 😤