Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Mosttheaters,markedontouristmaps,arefoundintheWestEndbetweenPiccadillyand
Covent Garden. Box offices, hotels, and TIs offer a handy, free, and weekly
Official London
Theatre Guide.
From home, you can look online at
www.officiallondontheatre.co.uk
for the
latest on what's currently playing in London.
Most performances are nightly except Sunday, usually with one or two matinees a week.
The few shows that run on Sundays are mostly family fare (
Matilda, The Lion King,
and
so on) and, in summer, Shakespeare at the Globe (late April-early Oct—and possibly year-
roundoncetheirnewindoorJacobeanTheatreopens,possiblyintimeforyourvisit).Tickets
range from about £15 to £65. Matinees are generally cheaper and rarely sell out.
Theater Lingo:
It's helpful to know these terms when booking tickets—stalls (ground
floor),dresscircle(firstbalcony),uppercircle(secondbalcony),balcony(sky-highthirdbal-
cony), slips (cheap seats on the fringes). Many cheap seats have a restricted view (behind a
pillar). For floor plans of the various theaters, see
www.theatremonkey.com
.
Buying Theater Tickets
Choose between waiting to buy your tickets in London (offering you flexibility and the pos-
sibility of getting a deal that's available only locally), or prebooking from home (a safer bet
if you have your heart set on a particular show that's likely to sell out).
Getting Tickets in London:
Many tickets are available on short notice—likely at a
discount. While very popular shows sell out early (especially for weekend performances),
nearly-as-popular shows may offer discounted tickets to fill seats. Seeing all those glitzy
ads in the Tube may make you curious as to what's on: Drop by the discount
tkts
booth on
Leicester Square to find out (explained in next section). If you're interested in a particular
show, call or check the theater's website carefully to see if they're offering any deals; if not,
you might as well book through tkts.
Booking Tickets Before You Go:
To book in advance online or by phone, do your
homework to figure out what you want; browse your options at
www.officiallondontheatre.co.uk
.Bookingaheadissmartifthere'sashowyoumustsee,it's
very popular, and your time in London is quite limited (e.g., a couple of days—and remem-
berthatonweekends,playsaremorelikelytogetbookedup).It'salsoworthcheckingtosee
if the tickets for your preferred show are sold at full price even by the discount tkts booth in
London(checktheirwebsiteat
www.tkts.co.uk
todeterminethis);inthiscase,it'slesslikely
thatyou'llscoreadealbywaitinguntilyougettoLondon(andmoreriskythattheshowwill
sell out before you arrive).
The easiest way to book seats online is by going through the theater's website; punch
in possible dates, check their seating chart for availability, and select your seats. Most
theater websites link you to a preferred vendor such as
www.ticketmaster.co.uk
or
