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?

London theatre is crazy. My kids love the Starlight Express music but no way can we pay that much for a ticket.
but I don’t live in London now and kids theatre in our city is much more affordable.

I paid £25 for top tickets for Starlight Express, There is a weekly lottery
lwtheatres.co.uk/all-aboard-the-loco-lottery-your-ticket-to-starlight-express/

Oliver are doing a family package at the moment. Not school holidays and just Tuesday to Friday, but you get 4 tickets for £125 total in the grand circle, or £200 in the stalls/dress circle.
Also join todaytix - I get loads of cheap tickets from there.
Enter theatre lotteries.
I spend far too much time at the theatre, but never spend a fortune. Cheap tickets are out there if you know where to look x

I've never paid that much, even for occasional trips to see big shows on the West End, but then we always get the cheap seats.

We go to the Lowry a lot to see kids shows and usually pay no more than about £30 a ticket. Smaller theatres outside of cities are usually much cheaper.

We also see a lot of amateur theatre which is usually no more than £12 a ticket. It's a bit hit and miss but once you know the names of the directors you have a better idea of what's going to be worth seeing. Sometimes they really are professional level shows, albeit with a smaller budget.

I’ve just booked 3 tickets to a London show via this, for £135 total. We do it every year and it’s a great way for kids to visit the west end without breaking the bank. Loads to choose from this year!

It has got a lot more expensive recently. We live in London and don't go nearly as often as we used to. It's like gigs. Rufus Wainwright is reprising his Judy Garland set at the Albert Hall. Top price £400!

@bruffini didn’t know that! Thank you! I was trying to book ahead for the summer holidays but couldn’t see any seats less than £150 on the days we could go

Yeah, but bottom price £75.

Which is still more than I'd pay, but I think we all underestimate how much retail price inflation has affected everything.

(Just checked. Last time I went to the Albert Hall (2009!) I paid £38.50 for tickets, which works out as £61 after inflation, so £75 is within those kind of parameters.)

I paid £45 for Macbeth with David Tennant. Those ticket prices do exist. You might have to be an early bird in the queue but it’s definitely possible to get cheaper play tickets. I also got an offer for Retrograde for £15 a couple of weeks ago. That’s cheaper than a date night…in McDonald’s!

Look for your local amateur productions. We have a very good theatre group and we have always enjoyed going. Tickets are usually £15 -£20.

Supporting amateur theatre is great, but there are also plenty of professional theatre productions around that are amazing but don't come with the ticket prices of big west end plays.

Try paying to take the kids to a Premier Leahue football match. It used to be a working class sport, now it’s unaffordable for many.