Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
be purchased in advance, either over the phone or via their website. Alternatively, try
the
Society of London Theatre
(
&
020/7557-6700;
www.officiallondontheatre.
co.uk), which has a ticket booth (“tkts”) on the southwest corner of Leicester Square,
open Monday to Saturday 10am to 7pm and Sunday 11am to 4pm. You can purchase
all tickets here, although the booth specializes in half-price sales for shows that are
undersold. These tickets must be purchased in person—not over the phone. A £2 ser-
vice fee is charged. For phone orders, you should call
Ticketmaster
(
&
0870/060-
2340;
www.ticketmaster.co.uk).
Visitors from North America can try
Keith Prowse,
234 W. 44th St., Ste. 1000, New
York, NY 10036 (
&
212/398-4175
in the U.S.; www.keithprowse.com) to arrange
tickets and seek information before they leave home. Their London office is at 39 More-
land St., EC1 (
&
0844/209-0382;
Tube: Angel). They'll mail your tickets, fax a con-
firmation, or leave your tickets at the appropriate production's box office. Instant
confirmations are available for most shows. A booking and handling fee of up to 20% is
added to the price of the ticket.
Applause Theatre and Entertainment
Service,
311
W. 43rd St., Ste. 601, New York, NY 10036 (
&
800/451-9930
or 212/307-7050 in the
U.S.; www.applause-tickets.com), can sometimes get you tickets when Prowse can't. In
business for some 2 decades, it is a reliable and efficient company.
Ticket prices vary greatly depending on the seat and venue—from £25 to £85 is
typical. Occasionally gallery seats (the cheapest) are sold only on the day of the per-
formance, so you'll have to head to the box office early in the day and return an hour
before the performance to get in line, because they're not reserved seats.
Many of the major theatres, such as the
National
(see below), offer reduced-price
tickets to students and those under 18 on a standby basis, but not to the general
public. When available, these tickets are sold 30 minutes prior to curtain. Line up
early for popular shows, as standby tickets go fast. Of course, you must show a valid
student ID.
TheatreFix
(www.theatrefix.co.uk) is a website set up to help and encourage
those aged 16 to 26 to attend London theatres. Sign up to the service and you can
get cheap entry to many productions, as well as valuable advice if you are making your
first trip to the city.
Finally, if you decide to check out the theatre on a whim—and you're not too fussy
about what you see—
Lastminute.com
is a safe bet to pick up late tickets, often at
discounted rates.
Warning:
Beware of scalpers who hang out in front of theatres staging hit shows.
Many report that scalpers sell forged tickets, and their prices can be outrageous.
MAJOR THEATRES
Donmar Warehouse
Although its auditorium only seats 250 people, the
Donmar Warehouse is still one of London's most important and acclaimed theatres.
For the past 2 decades—first under the artistic directorship of Sam Mendes and,
since 2002, Michael Grandage—the Donmar has staged some of London's most
memorable productions with several, such as
Frost/Nixon
going on to tour interna-
tionally. It's renowned for an emphasis on performing new works and contemporary
reworkings of the classics, so catching a performance here should be high on the
priority list of any visiting theatre lover.
41 Earlham St., WC2.
&
020/7240-4882.
www.donmar
warehouse.com. Tube: Covent Garden.
National Theatre
Home to one of the world's greatest stage companies, the
Royal National Theatre is not one but three theatres—the Olivier, reminiscent of a
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