One of the many wonders of theatreland is that even in a recession people still flock to the box office. Last year was a bumper year for London’s West End, with ticket sales rising by 7.9% to takings of over £5billion. But would the record-breaking figure for sales have been so high if more people had known about the cheap ticket extravaganza?

Perhaps not, so I will let you in on the secret. Many of London’s West End theatres reserve tickets for the evening’s performance or matinee and sell them on the day for a bargain (anything from £5-£25.) Just last month I got front row tickets to Jez Butterworth’s latest play Jerusalem. And I don’t mean the holy city, but the hotly tipped and refreshingly-different play about the trials and tribulations of a man outcast from society, currently on at the Apollo Theatre on Shaftsbury Avenue.

So back to the cheap tickets. To get hold of the aforementioned cheap tickets, you must form an orderly queue outside the theatre’s box office on the morning of the date you wish to attend. It is preferable to arrive 20-30 minutes before the box office opens (even earlier for popular musicals/plays and during school based holidays), as there are often not many tickets available, and the distribution will be on a first-come-first-served basis.

It is definitely worth doing, even if it’s just so you can turn around smugly from your front row seat and look at the 400 or so others who forked out the full whack of £50+.

Even cheaper still, is the joy of free tickets. Yes, free! Some of the biggest theatres in London including the National Theatre, Donmar Warehouse and the Young Vic offer those lucky enough to be aged between 16 and 25  free tickets to some of the biggest shows of the year.  The offer is coordinated by the Arts Council England, and all you have to do is visit the website at www.anightlessordinary.org.uk. So get clicking!

Blog post by Becky Middleton

Tags: A Night Less Ordinary, Becky Middleton, Becky's Blog, Blog, cheap, Featured, jerusalem, Theatre, tickets, West End