Rip-off?

Tanith we went to see One Man Two Governors like you at a matinee performance, the only tickets available, with a meal afterwards in the package very good value. Also like you went to see Jersey Boys a few years ago, my husband's favourite show. To be honest we both thought it was much better than the much hyped OMTG even with James Corden in it.

For me it was all the travelling on the underground that got me down. I don't miss it at all now we don't live in the SE anymore. I think I would if we didn't have such a good theatre but then that was one of the things we took into consideration when choosing somewhere to retire.

I would love to have gone to Glyndbourne, never made it for one reason or another. We did used to go to the Holland Park Open Air theatre and take a picnic which was lovely, also Hampton Court. We always made a posh picnic to make it a special occassion. Once DH invited our young Austalian dentist and his wife to come with us. I had told him to tell them we would provide the food but he forgot. They turned up with huge filled rolls and we had brought good wine and dainty things to eat. I could see they were uncomfortable but just did our best to gloss over it but the trouble was we were in the private enclosure where other people had brought posh picnics too.

We used to go to Glyndebourne when we lived in London and I loved the whole experience. We were usually lucky with the weather and the picnics on the lawns just added to the glamour of it all!
I think my problem was not the price of the tickets - I know what theatre tickets cost and as our DD2 is a theatre designer , heaven knows she is not overpaid! It's just the way the extras mount up especially going to the West End, nearly as much as the tickets themselves! We also go to Stratford (often staying the night as it's a long drive home in the dark for me) and fortunately both MK and Northampton's Royal and Derngate do excellent touring productions in the case of the former and "home produced" at the Royal and Derngate, so not too badly off.

Our guilty secret is going to Glynebourne once each year, tickets are over £100 but you take your own picnic, parking is free and the programme is optional.

I say guilty secret, because I thought the ticket prices were so high as to make them a rank extravagence and difficult to justify, but now I have read the other posts on this thread, I have stopped worrying, all told we do not spend anymore than if we went to a show in the West End with decent tickets, fares, meals and programmes.

Occasionally we go to the Theatre Royal In Newcastle and there, as long as you have your theatre ticket with you, you can have free travel on the metro before and after a performance - an excellent scheme.

In June 2011 we went to the Royal Shakespeare Theatre in Stratford upon Avon to see "The Merchant of Venice" - I can't remember exactly what we paid for the tickets, but I don't remember being shocked, so they can't have been too bad.

A lot of theatres and agents have concession tickets available they aren't often advertised you have to ask.. we chose a senior matinee at a very cheap price to see the Jersey Boys , it mattered not what time of day we went we just wanted to see that particular show.. and we still had a nice meal afterwards and thoroughly enjoyed ourselves.

But do ask when booking if they have any concessions available you might be surprised.

Yes I go with the U3A visits and its practicually door to door and shows I wouldnt see The costs are about the same us ours Some have just been to see the Mousetrap at Newcastle

We get cast lists free when we go to the ballet in Birmingham. I think it is their way of showing they understand their public.

We are very lucky here in Malvern to have a great theatre and we get lots of pre and post West End shows to enjoy plus we don't have far to travel and know where to park for free. Drinks etc. are cheaper here than in big cities and we have restaurants where we can get a pre-theatre meal if we wish.

We have always loved theatre and go a lot so have gold membership of our local one which gives us tickets for so many shows a year plus £3 discounts on any others we book. It also entitles us to 2 free cinema tickets a week which makes it a good deal for us. There is also an annual get togetherr for gold and silver members.

We are also subscribers to Birmingham Royal Ballet which gives us priority booking and a discount on the price.

It is worth it to us as it is something we enjoy doing together.

They don't seem to do the cast lists anymore..just a sheet of paper. I only want reminding who is playing who..I can look up their 'history' online if I want to know more!

I find booking fees very annoying. Unless you turn up on the day, you have to book, so why do they not just put another £1 or several on to the ticket price? It would be more honest, I think. In New York (? all of the USA) and, I believe, in at least some parts of Canada, your theatre programme comes free in the form of a magazine called, I think, Playbill, which you are given as you come in to the auditorium. It is full of interesting stuff and is a sensible, roughly A5 size, not one of the monsters you sometimes get in this country and cannot fit into any normally sized bag.

I'm lucky in that our U3A organises trips to the Royal Exchange Theatre in Manchester. We get a very good group rate so that, including the coach fare, we usually pay £22 a time. Such a treat not to have to find a car parking space!

The cinema showings of live opera etc. are fantastic according to my bf.
We go to the Halle at the Bridgewater Hall,Manchester, and we've noticed recently that the prices have risen. Doesn't seem to make sense because there are more empty seats now.

I agree costs are becoming prohibitive. If you have the time and inclination some theatres do have cheap seats..but you have to be quick! Went to see Privates on Parade in West End for a tenner a ticket last month. Excellent production.

We rarely go to the theatre these days, although we used to always buy a season ticket for our local theatre. I find the theatre very hit and miss; when it's good it's something that stays with you forever but when it's bad I tend to sit there just thinking about how much I've paid to be so bored . I never buy programmes these days as I've realised they just sit on a shelf gathering dust. What I haven't done, mainly because it detracts from the whole experience of going to the theatre [probably the only time that I make an effort with my appearance nowadays] is go to one of these live screenings of a West End Play that they show at the cinema. Time I gave that a go, I think.This year we've booked tickets for War Horse in Birmingham [my daughter is coming with us; she's wanted to see it for years] and Cirque du Soleil's 'Alegria'; I had no desire to see them again [even though they were fantastic when we did see them; it was actually in a big top as well which added to the magic] but Alegria is 'the' show that I've always wanted to see. All in all, the tickets for both shows have cost £250 and that doesn't include travel, parking etc. I do know that I'll enjoy both shows, but doubt that I would pay so much these days for something that I might not like. Times is 'ard, I'm afraid.

It is expensive...too much in many ways and all the extras do add up. But it is a costly process putting on a production and now they are mostly all self funding..i.e. no more subsidies! Hope you had a great time even if the cost was painful!

We went to see Sauce For The Goose at the the Orange Tree Theatre in Richmond (surrey) yesterday, tickets were £25 for two. We were running late so did not grab a programme so not sure what they charge there..DH did have an ice cream (£2:50) good show though!

gracesmum I am so glad you enjoyed your day and yes quite right it is something that you cannot do on a regular basis,but the costings of the trips to theatre's where brought home to me just a couple of weeks ago when after 4 months of rehearsals for a performance of "Joseph" at our local church/school the organisers where charged £100.00 per night per performance by "performing rights people" who give the ok for the permission for the show to go on,they also wanted 15% of ticket sales and a breakdown of ticket costs so we had to say we where not charging and just asking for donations from parents/visitors or we would have been out of pocket,so I can see where the costings come into it,if you went to a show that did 2 x performances a day the cost would be enormous indeed.

HOW MUCH???!!!

I remember when a programme was 6d...

I agree it is a rip-off! Whenever you buy anything there are always add ons which I think should be included in the price.

When I bought a freezer recently they wanted me to pay for delivery - told them they could keep it if they weren't prepared to deliver it for free. How do they expect someone to get something that big home - I could hardly strap it to the roof of my little car!!

recinted should of course be recounted