The early months of any year are rarely filled with much cheer. Christmas and New Year celebrations soon fade in our memories but not those of credit card companies.
The start of 2025 has been far from encouraging. The news from around the world is depressing and sightings of the sun in short supply. In these circumstances, what better way to bring a smile back to our faces than some theatregoing?
If you are the kind of person who will happily pay £650 for a pair of top-price tickets to enjoy the pleasures of Cabaret, then skip this article, unless you enjoy gloating over the struggles of others. Given all that has happened in the last few years, with inflation falling but not fast enough and housing costs tending towards the unaffordable, most theatregoers will be watching their pockets with concern. Unfortunately, nights out at the theatre are generally thought of as what is now known as “discretionary spend”, i.e. dispensable ahead of such minor luxuries as eating and heating your home.
This is bad news for those on both sides of the curtain. Theatres have fewer punters, actors are likely to find themselves unemployed with solo and small-cast shows de rigueur, staff threatened with redundancy and those who love the art form forced to ration their visits. However, do not despair as there are often ways to cut the cost of enjoying a show.
In the days of silent movies, the likes of Charlie Chaplin would sneak in by the back door. Technology has rendered this technique redundant, along with the age-old ploy of strolling in during the interval and finding an empty seat for the second half.
If you want to get free theatre tickets, there are still one or two avenues to explore. Should you happen to have finely honed critical skills and the ability to write, then please let us know, as theatre critics are often blessed with complimentary tickets. Be warned, our standards are high and we reject far more than we take on.
Failing that, get friendly with people who work in the theatre. Actors and others involved in shows often get free tickets for opening nights and producers frequently paper houses i.e. offer free tickets during previews or where shows are not selling well. That may be beyond your social circle, but the same privileges can be acquired if you get yourself onto the right mailing list.
There are also several means by which one can get heavily reduced ticket prices. At this time of year in the northern hemisphere, theatres tend to be sparsely populated and numerous offers are pumped out to the general public or subscribers to certain web sites.
In the past, you might reasonably have assumed that none of this would help with the most popular shows in town. However, when times are hard, that changes as, looking at our own web site, there are currently deals on some of the most popular shows in town including Hamilton and Les Misérables.
It is always astonishing to discover the assumption of many people who assert their love of theatre that the only shows in town are big budget musicals like that pair, Wicked and Mamma Mia, any of which they might have seen on multiple occasions.
While they might not immediately be as excited by a less touted show, sometimes that merely reflects smaller publicity budgets rather than quality. Sometimes, the greatest pleasure results from taking a chance on something unknown, especially when secondary ticket outlets or web sites are offering dirt cheap deals.
Another approach is to visit the ticket booth in Leicester Square and its affiliates, selling cut-price tickets on the day or in advance on the TKTS web site. There are also fringe venues that offer fantastic value for money, selling tickets for a fraction of the price of high-profile musicals. Why not visit your local theatre? Depending on what is on offer, a ticket may be obtained for £30, £20 or possibly even under £10, provided you are happy to spend a couple of hours in a room above a noisy pub.
A recent trend has been towards small-scale professional productions with casts that rarely stretch beyond three. For anyone hankering after something offering a bigger picture, another option could be a visit to an amateur or semi-professional production. The costs are considerably lower, effectively sponsored by the performers, so ticket prices can be manageable and, if you get it right, the local solicitor could be a star actor who needs to support the family with a decent salary rather than risking the precarious life of a professional actor.
This may not be one for the deep, dark days of winter but, for reasons that cannot be entirely commercial, some outdoor summer shows at venues such as The Scoop are offered free of charge, which is something to look forward to.
The real message from today’s column is that, even when times are hard, the theatre deserves support and will give pleasure without necessarily costing the earth.