London is an expensive city. It’s expensive to visit and it’s even more expensive to live here. But there are ways to feed your theatre addiction without landing yourself in debt or starving to death. Trust me!
The first thing I will say is, depending on how bad your theatre addiction is, you may need to be prepared to do nothing else with your time and money. I personally spend the majority of my time at the theatre, as do my friends, so it’s very rare any of us will decide to go somewhere else. This means that all of my disposable money goes on the theatre. But this obviously isn’t going to be the case for everyone, so if you have other hobbies, factor the costs of them in to your weekly/monthly budget after you’ve paid bills and bought essentials such as food and other supplies. Then you’ll be able to work out roughly how much you can afford to spend on theatre tickets.
When it comes to getting tickets you don’t need to give up a kidney just to get a good seat. There are a number of ways you can get access to cheap tickets without breaking your budget!
Dayseating
Dayseating is one of the best ways to get cheap theatre tickets without having to settle for a terrible view. Many theatres will offer a limited number of dayseats that become available to buy at 10am in person at the respective box office of the show you wish to see. On average they cost around £20, however there are a few shows that offer cheaper tickets (Matilda The Musical offer £5 restricted view for 16 – 25 year olds upon production of valid ID). Be aware though, there are a few shows on the West End that do not offer day seats, and for the ones that do, it’s often a fierce competition – but it is 100% worth it!
Rush Tickets
If dayseating is not for you, the TodayTix app offers an option for ‘rush tickets’. Like day seats, these tickets go on sale at 10am, the only difference being you can get them from the comfort of your bed, rather than queuing up on the street for hours beforehand. As these tickets are sold through a merchant, they are subject to booking fees and the value is normally slightly higher than a day seat, making the average price of a rush ticket usually around £25. And, like day seats there is always a fierce competition for rush tickets too. So be prepared to be quick and on the ball if you’re looking to see a popular show!
Lottery
Ticket lotteries are not quite as popular as dayseating and rush, however, a few shows do offer the chance to enter into a randomly drawn lottery, often on a daily or weekly basis, that gives lucky winners the chance to claim tickets usually between £15 – £25 depending on the show. Lottery tickets are often front row or best available seats, meaning that if you win, you’re getting extremely good value for money. Shows such as Mamma Mia and Everybody’s Talking About Jamie offer ticket lotteries on the TodayTix app, while shows including The Book Of Mormon and Aladdin offer both in person lotteries as well as weekly online lotteries.
“Restricted View” Seats
Buying restricted view tickets is somewhat of what I would call a ‘hitty missy’ affair. Sometimes it can work out really well, other times it doesn’t work out at all. But it’s definitely worth looking into to try and grab a bargain.
Restricted view seats are often marked as restricted but actually are hardly restricted at all. Other times, they can be so restricted that you cannot see anything. My favourite way to work out how restricted a “restricted view” seat is, is by using a website called SeatPlan.
The website allows you to take a look at the view from different seats in the theatre, meaning you wont get caught out buying restricted view seats that aren’t worth your while. Seat reviewers can also leave comments on the comfort and leg room of the seats which gives you even more details to decide if the seats are right for you!
Ticket Booths
All around the West End you’ll find ticket booths selling discounted tickets to pretty much every show. Though these sometimes can still be expensive, if you set yourself a budget and are lenient on what show you see, ticket booths are a fantastic place to get bargain theatre tickets! I personally find London Theatre Bookings and TKTS in Leicester Square to be the best, most reliable booths to use, however there are so many to choose from all across the west end that you’re usually only a stones throw away from one!
P.S. For shows such as Hamilton, the best way to get cheap tickets is to book very far in advance the day that tickets go on sale. Tickets start at £20 but the cheap ones go FAST so keep up to date with their socials so that you have the best chance at getting a ticket!
P.P.S. If you have any further questions or anything else you’d like to know that I haven’t covered, I’m always up for a chat, so by all means pop me an email or message me on one of my socials and I’ll help in any way I can! You can find my contact details here!
Happy Theatregoing!
Chloe Rose
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