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?

We got 5 tickets for much ado about nothing the week before for £50 each on twickets- there are loads of tickets for everything on there.

This show is playing a pre West End run in Salford that has top price tickets of around £50..depending on train fare costs it could work out cheaper to go and see it up north!!

I was considering booking Witness for the prosecution as we love Agatha Christie but was put off by reviews saying the restricted view seats had great big marble pillars blocking the stage. How was your experience of these seats please?

@Meredusoleil Personally, I regret not spending a bit more to get a better view (no marble pillars in the way!) and more comfort, but for the bargain price I can't really complain. It was a really enjoyable play, enhanced by the setting at County Hall.

Might be worth checking out Seatplan to check reviews for the seats that you have in mind:

https://seatplan.com/london/witness-for-the-prosecution-tickets/tickets/

My seat was North Gallery D32

I was given jury seats for that as a birthday present - great if you're a fan and can afford it as they're the best seats in the house and you get to give a verdict.

You can go to Shakespeare globe and if you okay to stand it’s £5
in summer the theatres run a buy an adult ticket get one for a child free.
so much theatre in London, I go quite often , pay around £25
old Vic is really reasonable
fringe theatre has excellent shows which can cost around £15
look around I would also not pay those high priced , but there are still tickets around

Our town has an excellent regional theatre which gets all the touring shows. Prices start at £13 for a seat in the slips. We go regularly.

I watched over 125 shows (roughly in years 2015-2020) and rarely paid more than £25.

Most of the time I just turned up to the theatre before showtime and got a decent seat at a better price (shh...I sometimes switched to a better seat at the interval). Other times I just watched out for good prices.

They weren't necessarily the best seats, but only maybe half a dozen times or less restricted view.

Added: I'm not really into musicals, and I found that the few I did attend tended to be the pricier shows. Generally I watched plays.

@MumbleBumbleAppleCrumble sorry you had to leave Stereophonic! Was your seat in first couple of rows of stalls? I’m going next week and went for a restricted Circle ticket but had been considering second row of stalls. I’m short though so decided against.

And they can't even get his name right! It should be Heracles!

Yes, it's massively expensive. If you have youngish or small children, you need front stalls seats really, otherwise they can't see anything! We go as a rare occasion now, ehich is sad.

Far end of the upper circle, a row or two back.

It was annoying because it highlights how some productions (and of course this was coming over from Broadway) don’t consider their audience when staging. The view (leaning forward) was just about half the stage, but we only lasted 20-30minutes as during that time 90% of the action was taking place at the far edge of the stage on the bit we couldn’t see. It’s usually fine when you occasionally miss a bit of things as you can hear and it’s usually a very short time before things return to the centre of the stage. But we could see nothing of most of what was going on. And there was also clearly, from audience reactions, quite a bit of non-verbal stuff. And particularly for a play so based (apparently) upon the relationships between the characters, not being able to see who’s saying what or doing what made it feel rather pointless!

Hopefully you get a better view than me. Good luck!

YANBU. We aren't skint by any means but I often browse our regional theatre listings, click through to shows that look interesting and then hurriedly exit when I see the prices. Our local theatre's pretty good though: not a bad seat in the house and tickets are almost always under £30. They show screenings from the Royal Opera House too, which are brilliant value. You get a view not even the best seat will enjoy for about £15.

@MumbleBumbleAppleCrumblei think I’m ok, front of dress circle though almost at end. Galling though when it happens, I saw the Enfield Poltergeist a while back and couldn’t see any of the top half of stage where lots happened. And to the point of the thread, it’s not like it was a very cheap ticket.

Front is usually fine 🤞

I hope you enjoy it. I’m still trying to decide whether to rebook.

Sit in the gods. The view is actually better as you can see the whole stage. I’ve never paid more than £50 for a theatre ticket (Hamilton in its first London month). Saw Redmayne in Cabaret for £30. Going to the Royal Opera House for £25 on Monday.

The views aren’t crappy. And they aren’t expensive.

Some people have mentioned standing tickets, which I appreciate isn’t an option for everyone but still means ultra cheap tickets. I know the Royal Exchange in Manchester sell them, and the Donmar Warehouse, at ridiculously cheap prices. Cheapest of all is the Royal Court in London who sell standing tickets for 10p each for shows in the downstairs theatre. I’m sure there’s a few more places around the UK that sell them. So, at a tiny handful of theatres, you can have a very cheap night out at the theatre if you’re willing and able to stand up throughout the performance. Such a shame the National Theatre stopped selling these tickets (and day seats).

National Theatre do Friday rush now which are £10

Absolutely agree. I mean occasionally you get a dud seat but generally they’re marvellous and a bargain! I go very regularly and never spend more than about £50. Some wonderful productions and some great views!

I do often wonder whether those that make statements like, ‘I don’t see the point in booking cheaper seats, the view is crappy’, have ever actually tried the cheaper seats?!

very rarely go to the theatre because of cost, I never go with other half as we can’t justify the expense so I go with a friend instead as I only have to pay for myself. Would love to go to the panto at Christmas but not doable for us as a family of 4, we both work.

Have you looked at the cheaper seats? The experience really is just as good.

Theatre is a treat. We’re going to see that show and book for the 5 of us mid range tickets and it’s around £450, less than £100 per person. I love the theatre and there are cheaper options but a new show opening in a London theatre with the original goes wrong show cast isn’t going to be a cheapie is it?

I buy tickets costing £15 at my local theatre, you just have to get in quick.

I dunno, I go regularly to see small companies performing at small independent venues and it’s not hellishly expensive but it’s usually just me and these are definitely not west end shows or child friendly. You can still stand at the Globe for a fiver but that might not be a kid thing either.

I live in London, go to the theatre regularly (probably averages twice a week), a mix of fringe and west end, I rarely pay more than £30 for a ticket, often a lot less and never sit in the gods.

Look at websites like See Film First - they send daily emails of discounted deals for shows, some last minute, but others discounts way ahead.
If "Christmas Carol goes wrong" is anything to do with "the play that goes wrong" I'm forever being offered discounted tickets for that.

Explore side galleries and restricted view seats - they're very often absolutely fine.
there's a website where you can explore "the view from my seat"