4,596 posts
|
Post by Someone in a tree on Oct 3, 2022 13:24:03 GMT
|
|
2,379 posts
|
Post by robertb213 on Oct 3, 2022 16:34:33 GMT
Apply to volunteer at a theatre or join one of the dozens of online reviewing sites as a writer. I do both, I've seen 100 shows this year and paid for 15 of them 😁
|
|
2,272 posts
|
Post by theatreian on Oct 3, 2022 16:44:00 GMT
Apply to volunteer at a theatre I'm in the process of volunteering for Malvern theatre . |
|
2,379 posts
|
Post by robertb213 on Oct 3, 2022 16:48:57 GMT
Apply to volunteer at a theatre I'm in the process of volunteering for Malvern theatre . Awesome, hope it goes well. I highly recommend it. We need new recruits at the Royal & Derngate in Northampton if anyone's local, drop me a message if you want to know more. |
|
4,967 posts
Member is Online
|
Post by TallPaul on Oct 3, 2022 17:05:34 GMT
I've changed the thread title slightly to make it more arts focused.
|
|
|
|
Post by Deleted on Oct 3, 2022 18:12:22 GMT
Date a critic and be his +1?
|
|
2,379 posts
|
Post by robertb213 on Oct 3, 2022 18:21:55 GMT
Date a critic and be his +1? Also this! I'm fed up of sitting next to an empty seat! 🤣 |
|
|
|
Post by Deleted on Oct 3, 2022 19:43:03 GMT
Also this! I'm fed up of sitting next to an empty seat! 🤣 I'm also 6'6", but alas in the US ... although I do make it to London twice a year lol. |
|
262 posts
|
Post by kyvai on Oct 3, 2022 23:45:29 GMT
Look into seat filling programmes. I used to do one when I first graduated and moved to London with pretty empty pockets. The scheme I was a member of isn’t around any more but there are similar ones. Basically as a member you get access to last minute very cheap tickets as long as you are discreet about how you got them. I saw loads of off-west end stuff and quite a bit of big name productions for the few years I did it. Most chuffed when I was sat in a £100 seat for £5 (and this was 12 years ago). And then went back to the same production again for free as they wanted some audience feedback on some changes they’d made.
Well worth looking into if you can be flexible getting to London theatres last minute.
|
|
4,579 posts
Member is Online
|
Post by Mark on Oct 3, 2022 23:50:37 GMT
The Vaults are doing Pay What You Can on Wednesdays and Sundays. Arcola also do Pay What You Can Tuesdays
|
|
4,596 posts
|
Post by Someone in a tree on Oct 4, 2022 6:46:48 GMT
Look into seat filling programmes. I used to do one when I first graduated and moved to London with pretty empty pockets. The scheme I was a member of isn’t around any more but there are similar ones. Basically as a member you get access to last minute very cheap tickets as long as you are discreet about how you got them. I saw loads of off-west end stuff and quite a bit of big name productions for the few years I did it. Most chuffed when I was sat in a £100 seat for £5 (and this was 12 years ago). And then went back to the same production again for free as they wanted some audience feedback on some changes they’d made. Well worth looking into if you can be flexible getting to London theatres last minute. Great idea. I am a member of Central Tickets, My box office and Show Film First. |
|
1,363 posts
|
Post by Dave B on Oct 4, 2022 9:23:13 GMT
Theatre stuff:
Orange Tree and Hammersmith Lyric often have season tickets which can drop costs a lot. Southwark have a bundle of tickets which works out as much cheaper. Lucky Dip / Secret Seats - often great value for great seats. Rush on TodayTix, NT Friday. £12 Mondays at Royal Court £10 PWC Previews at Old Vic
£5 Hampstead Downstairs previews (I think this is the best value ticket in London)
Groundlings at The Globe Go look at what some 'restricted' view seats actually are, Almeida gets mentioned a lot in threads here and their idea of restricted view and many board members idea are very different! Go to more pub/fringe theatre where tickets can be as low as £6 for a normal show. Embrace previews! Southwark, Finborough, Arcola and many others have much cheaper prices for previews, often £14 compared to £24 and while you *may* get the very occasional line flub, it's really not a noticeable change of quality for a show that likely has it's press night two nights later. Stand if you really want to see something and keep costs down (Pinter and Donmar spring to mind). Some theatres (or theatre companies) do a Pay What You Can option, Arcola and Proforça spring to mind. Look at Twitter, if a show isn't doing so well, you may well see cast/crew sharing a promo code around a few days beforehand. Matinees (usually mid-week if that suits) can often have discounts floating around, West End stuff sometimes seat fills and other shows can get a code on Twitter for a discount. And then the two big ones. Seatfilling. Search up London (or applicable city) and seatfilling and join a bunch of them. That will open up a huge range of seats from £3-6 (usually) and you might be surprised what is available. Discretion is important. Seatfilling works too, been noticeable in the past few weeks some shows that have filled in preview and then had a great press night and start to sell out their run. Reviews. Tons of the review websites have openings (even in London), commit to writing 300-600 words on the show you saw and get a free ticket (usually a plus one and sometimes a drink and programme). Some sites pick what show they send you to, others operate a first come first served available listing. ---- I know this makes me part of the problem ... but consider booking ahead less. A large amount of shows are simply not selling and this leaves space for a lot of offers in the weeks and days before a show opens. There are some companies who place tickets on seatfilling before even putting them on general sale. My booking habits have changed quite drastically in the past few months. I book if it's got a deal when it goes on sale and even then I'm feeling a bit burnt every now and again. It's not that I'll end up paying less but there are often much better seats for the same price. My spreadsheet has our year to date as having paid for 103 shows with an average price of £11.02. Highest ticket price has been £25, lowest was £3. We have sat in the front row and sat in the back row. We don't tend to see many musicals so I can't really speak to them for deals, prices etc.
|
|
6,334 posts
Member is Online
|
Post by Jon on Oct 4, 2022 10:40:10 GMT
I have to admit a lot of the suggestions is stuff I do already but then I've always been a tight wad.
|
|
5,593 posts
|
Post by lynette on Oct 4, 2022 14:25:38 GMT
Get yourself on the Olivier judging panel. Do they still recruit about this time of the year? Free theatre, ( with a plus 1) best seats and a proggie for a year to everything in either plays or musicals sections. If you see loads of theatre and are prepared to enter the selection then have a go. It might be different now to when I did it but it must still be the best bargain for a theatre lover.
|
|
4,579 posts
Member is Online
|
Post by Mark on Oct 4, 2022 14:38:30 GMT
Get yourself on the Olivier judging panel. Do they still recruit about this time of the year? Free theatre, ( with a plus 1) best seats and a proggie for a year to everything in either plays or musicals sections. If you see loads of theatre and are prepared to enter the selection then have a go. It might be different now to when I did it but it must still be the best bargain for a theatre lover. I'd love to do this. Have the last 3 or 4 times it came up but never got any further in the application process. |
|
1,363 posts
|
Post by Dave B on Oct 4, 2022 14:44:40 GMT
Get yourself on the Olivier judging panel. Do they still recruit about this time of the year? Free theatre, ( with a plus 1) best seats and a proggie for a year to everything in either plays or musicals sections. If you see loads of theatre and are prepared to enter the selection then have a go. It might be different now to when I did it but it must still be the best bargain for a theatre lover. I'd love to do this. Have the last 3 or 4 times it came up but never got any further in the application process. Same, not a single response. I even emailed asking for feedback (they didn't say they wouldn't answer anywhere) and not a thing. Will be applying again into the void for 2023. |
|
|
|
Post by ThereWillBeSun on Oct 4, 2022 20:53:17 GMT
|
|
|
|
Post by thistimetomorrow on Oct 4, 2022 23:24:24 GMT
Get yourself on the Olivier judging panel. can confirm this is amazing. fantastic seats, free program, often a +1 ticket too. |
|
7,539 posts
|
Post by alece10 on Dec 1, 2022 11:01:02 GMT
For anyone with a M&S credit card, I've just received an e mail from them them to say they have started a cash back loyalty scheme and you can get cash back from various comForpanies when you use your card until the end of Feb.
2 of the companies are ATG and Love Theatre who are giving 7% cash back.
So might be of interest to some of you.
|
|
2,536 posts
Member is Online
|
Post by n1david on Dec 1, 2022 11:38:44 GMT
A bit less, but Amex regularly run 5% cash back with ATG - need to check the "Amex Offers" section of the website or app.
|
|
3,067 posts
|
Post by Dr Tom on Dec 1, 2022 13:50:46 GMT
We could do with a topic about how to save money on theatre tickets.
ATG often has 1% cashback if you go through the cashback sites. It is also on Perks At Work for card linked cashback (currently 2% if you spend £125, 1% below that). In theory, you can get the M&S cashback, Perks At Work cashback and more, all for one transaction. Other places worth checking (if you qualify) are Nectar Connect, plus the Blue Light Scheme for public sector workers. There are more options, but those are a few that spring immediately to mind.
Another tip is to buy theatre tokens when they're discounted. This doesn't work for ATG, but does work TKTS, Delfont Mackintosh and some other sites. Morrisons often have good credit card cashback offers, so you can buy theatre tokens from Morrisons when those offers are on. If you're willing to go through an extra step, you can also buy the One4All gift card, which is often discounted, then use that gift card to buy theatre tokens.
(some people may consider all this too much trouble to be worth it, but every few pounds makes a difference to me - and don't get me started on maximising air miles and hotel points!)
|
|
18,845 posts
|
Post by BurlyBeaR on Dec 1, 2022 14:24:37 GMT
We could do with a topic about how to save money on theatre tickets. do you want me to change the title of this thread to make it more general? |
|
7,539 posts
|
Post by alece10 on Dec 1, 2022 14:44:54 GMT
We could do with a topic about how to save money on theatre tickets. do you want me to change the title of this thread to make it more general? Why not. Many thanks |
|
4,967 posts
Member is Online
|
Post by TallPaul on Dec 1, 2022 16:10:17 GMT
|
|
18,845 posts
|
Post by BurlyBeaR on Dec 1, 2022 16:20:50 GMT
Merged
|
|
2,787 posts
|
Post by ceebee on Dec 1, 2022 20:38:28 GMT
I'm gonna state the obvious. This is a nice community of people. People shouldn't feel shy or afraid to say on here what they would love to see but perhaps can't afford (or get a ticket for). Plenty of people on here imply that they are in the industry or "in the know". I've helped out a few people on here in the past with hard to get / unaffordable tickets, and it is one of my small pleasures in life - being able to help others where I can. Let's pool our resources/contacts/expertise/knowledge and help keep our community thriving by donating spares, sharing links for cheap tickets, or simply "paying it forward" and buying a fellow board member a ticket. Idealism? No. It happens. We can help each other if the desire is there. :-)
|
|
1,363 posts
|
Post by Dave B on Dec 1, 2022 22:30:52 GMT
The elephant in the room (board) is that papering is thriving at the moment with regular tickets for shows that people might be surprised (or not so much for such an informed community) at what is available. I've noticed a huge increase in the number of shows available, from your pub theatres up through mid size and even your big West End venues. We've got a rule about it here and of course each papering company also has it's own rules but there are times if someone talks about a special offer in a thread in vague terms, you can be reasonably safe to draw some conclusions.
For anyone not in the know, I'd strongly suggest searching for seatfilling london and having a look at the first few results. Join some of the schemes that don't require any payment fee and have a look see what shows are available and you might be able to see a few more shows.
|
|
