Most seats in most theatres in London command great views of the stage and are priced accordingly. Even though the theatres are old, the idea of getting the most buck for your bang has been the driving factor for all theatre designers since they built the amphitheatres of antiquity. So the stories of poor views from expensive seats and being unknowingly stuck behind pillars are vastly over-exaggerated. Yes they do exist, but unless you buy your seat from “Honest Ron” on the street corner you should be made well aware of any potential shortcomings to your impending evening of delectation.
The theatres are made up of several layers of seats: usually Orchestra Stalls, Royal or Dress Circle, Upper or Grand Circle and Balcony. The number of seats in each area dwindling, as you get closer to the gods! The seats considered to be the best are in the Stalls and Dress Circle although as you get towards the back of these areas your view can be hampered by the overhang of the seating above or, indeed, by the pillars that hold up the afore-mentioned seating! Consequently the further you go back the more likely those seats will be cheaper than those at the front.
The other reason for cheaper seats is a side view. Dependent on the individual production, seats on the end of a row may be marked as semi restricted view as the nearside upstage areas of the stage may be concealed from view by the proscenium arch. This is in no way a regular occurrence and different shows at the same theatre will be affected differently. Again, if it is an issue for your show of choice the reputable agents will advise you.
Oddly the worst view is often from the Royal Box, designed, as the seats were, to be seen in rather than to be watched from. Consequently the best deal in the house, if you don’t mind leaning forward – which is something Royaly never did – can often be found by being seated, if not treated, like royalty!
There are several theories as to why the upper levels are called “the gods” but whatever the truth is, the fact is that the worst seating in any theatre seems to be reserved for gods and kings! These cheap seats however are priceless.
Whilst the gentry scramble around below, the working classes live it up – literally. We still get our own bar and toilets, our own ice cream seller and purveyors of programmes, sweets and souvenirs but the seats are a fraction of the price.
OK we might have to splash out for opera glasses, down a stiff drink to quell the vertigo and frantically fan ourselves with whatever comes to hand to combat the rising temperatures, but here, surrounded by the starving actors of the future and the booze-sodden has-beens of the past, we can witness the stand- out performances of the present and say – “we were there!”