London

Dance

The Barbican
What we saw The Mark Morris Dance Group production of ‘Romeo & Juliet’.
How much? £10-£12 (£1.50 booking fee online, £2.50 by phone, no fee if you buy in person).
How do I get a ticket? Book in advance; £10 and £12 tickets are gallery seats.
How’s the view? The cheapest seats jut forward at the side of the gallery leaving a chunk of the view missing – a problem when the action is upstage. Views of the full stage can be had in the £12 seats, although if you’re on the short side, the safety rail might get in the way. Put your bags in the cloakroom to ensure legroom.
How much are refreshments? Green & Black’s ice-cream tub: £2.50. Hot food under a fiver (shepherd’s pie): £4.50. Glass of house wine: £3.75.
Any tips? Definitely worth stumping up the extra £2 for a £12 seat. If you book online, you can choose your seats. Gallery rows A and B, seats 25-40, are your best bets.
Best for… Ensembles, shows with live music.
Other shows coming up at this venue Blue Boy Entertainment’s ‘Pied Piper’ March 5-14 (different seating prices for this show, £10 seats available in stalls).
Barbican Centre, Silk St, EC2Y 8DS (020 7638 8891/www.barbican.org.uk). Barbican tube or Farringdon tube/rail.
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Sadler’s Wells
What we saw Birmingham Royal Ballet.
How much? £10 (£1.50 booking fee online, £2.20 by phone).
How do I get a ticket? Book in advance and sit at the back of the gallery.
How’s the view? It’s a somewhat vertiginous experience owing to the steep rake of the seats, but once you make it to the top it’s a decent vista, and unobstructed. Generally more chat, more loud eating of crunchy snacks and more people leaving before the end of the show than you’d get in the stalls. Good overall view of the stage (central seats are the best) but while you can see the movement, at such a distance the motivation might elude you.
How much are refreshments? Very nice but expensive sandwiches: £4.25. Ice-cream: £1.50. More than drinkable house wine: £4.05.
Any tips? Take some opera glasses if you want to see anyone’s face.
Best for… Large-scale abstract work, for appreciating patterning rather than detail.
Other shows coming up at this venue Director and choreographer Matthew Bourne’s ‘Edward Scissorhands’, Dec 2-Jan 18.
Sadler’s Wells, Rosebery Ave, EC1R 4TN (0844 412 4300/www.sadlerswells.com). Angel tube.


Classical & Opera
English National Opera
What we saw English National Opera’s production of ‘Aida’ by Verdi at the Coliseum.
How much? Cheapest ticket is £10 (Monday-Thursday).
How do I get a ticket? There are about 60 ‘day seats’, which can be purchased from the box office (which opens at 10am) on the day of the performance or on the phone at 12.30pm.
How’s the view? A joy for steeplejacks. Depending how close you are to the front of the balcony, you may have your view impaired by the thin rail, but otherwise you get a god’s-eye view of the stage, with surtitles below – so no need to keep glancing up. Your seat seems very far away from the stage (though you can console yourself with the splendid view of Trafalgar Square from a room just off the balcony bar nearby). On this particular evening distance wasn’t a problem, given that while Zandra Rhodes-attired Egyptians marched in circles in ‘Aida’, the real drama was taking place in the balcony. My partner for the evening suffered a bout of vertigo for the first 20 minutes (which may have been due to the costumes). Then, during the interval, an elderly gentleman fell down the stairs and cut his head open; rounded off with the chap next to me suffering a fit (and happily recovering) in the second half.
How much are refreshments? A small glass of wine: £4.60. Bottle of beer: £3.50. Two-course meal: starts at £32.
Food and drink here are probably not an option for those on a budget.
Best for… High-quality opera with a West End feel.
Other shows coming up at this venue ‘Boris Godunov’ (Mussorgsky) and ‘Riders to the Sea’ (Vaughan Williams).
English National Opera, London Coliseum, St Martin’s Lane, WC2N 4ES (0871 911 0200/www.eno.org). Leicester Sq tube.

Royal Opera House
What we saw ‘Matilde di Shabran’ by Rossini.
How much? The cheapest seat costs £21. (You could stand for £11, but with ‘Matilde di Shabran’ running at two hours before the interval it would be uncomfortable.)
How do I get a ticket? Bag one of 67 ‘day seats’ by queueing at the box office from 10am.
How’s the view? After a labyrinth of escalators and stairs, the view from the upper amphitheatre is superb. However, the seats up in the gods are much narrower than those in the stalls, and without armrests and you end up a little sandwiched between your neighbours. But the sound up here is excellent and the singers are the best in the world.
How much are refreshments?
A small glass of wine: £4.90. Bottle of beer: £4. There are extensive dining facilities, but with smoked salmon sandwiches starting at £11, probably not for those on a budget.
Best for… Top-flight opera for aficionados.
Other shows coming up at this venue Strauss’s ‘Elektra’ and ‘Les Contes d’Hoffmann’ by Offenbach.
Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, WC2E 9DD (020 7304 4000/www.roh.org.uk). Covent Garden tube.

Hackney Empire
What we saw ‘La Bohème’ by Puccini.
How much? £12.
How do I get a ticket? Bookable in advance in person or by phone.
How’s the view? The Empire is such an intimate jewel-box that one is never far from the stage, either in height or distance, so from the gallery one is eye-line with the surtitles and the view is unimpeded by a rail. Plus it’s handy for the amenities: once you access the upper circle from the side-door entrance, there is no need to come back down as the facilities are the same on every floor.
How much are refreshments? Glass of wine: £3.35. Beer: £3.05 a bottle (and, notably, available on draught for £3.40 a pint).
Unlike most opera establishments, you can take alcoholic drinks to your seat – though not necessary in this case with two intervals dividing Puccini’s 105-minute ‘La Bohème’. There are no dining facilities.
Best for… Enjoying opera and draught pints at the same time.
Other shows coming up at this venue Ellen Kent Opera returns on May 3, 2009 with Verdi’s ‘Aida’.
Hackney Empire, 291 Mare St, E8 1EJ (020 8985 2424/ www.hackneyempire.co.uk). Hackney Central rail.


Theatre
National Theatre
What we saw Seneca the Younger’s ‘Oedipus’ at the Olivier Theatre.
How much? From £5 if you don’t mind standing. But there are 120 £10 day seats and advance tickets for the Lyttelton and the Olivier, and 40 for the Cottesloe, even out of the Travelex season (which runs spring and summer, when half the seats are £10).
How do I get a ticket? Book in advance, online for a £10 ticket. At www.nationaltheatre.org.uk you can nab a central-aisle seat on a clickable seat plan. If you’re trying to get in to the likes of ‘War Horse’, which is sold out, you need to queue for 30 £10 day seats (released at 9.30am) or discount standbys (released 90mins early).
How does it compare to the stalls? In the gods at the Olivier the view’s not bad and the acoustics are excellent. The Olivier and the Lyttelton are auditoria designed to make a big impression, and you ought to get the whole visual impact even if you can’t see the actors blink. The Cottesloe’s less predictable as the seating plan changes by performance.
How much are refreshments? A glass of quaffable house red: £3.80. Pot of wasabi peanuts: £1.60.
Any tips? Go and see something which has been impressively designed. For a non-Travelex play consider paying an extra £5 to sit on the front row of the circle of the side of the stalls. If you’re standing, go for something short (‘Oedipus’ is 1hr 35m, ‘War Horse’ is closer to 3 hours).
Best for… Big, visual drama.
Other shows at this venue Booking for next year’s Travelex seats – Richard Bean’s ‘England People Very Nice’ and Wole Soyinka’s ‘Death and the King’s Horseman’ – opened on November 21.
National Theatre, South Bank, SE1 9PX (020 7452 3000/www.nationaltheatre.org.uk). Waterloo tube/rail.

Donmar Warehouse
What we saw Chekhov’s ‘Ivanov’ at Donmar Season at Wyndham’s Theatre.
How much? Thirty-three standing tickets (13 at the back of the stalls, 20 in the balcony) for £10 and up to 16 box seats for £25 are available from 10am at the box office on the day of the performance.
How do I get a ticket? Wake up very early. ‘Ivanov’ queues started as early as 7.30am.
How’s the view? At the back of the balcony you have a clear view that’s only partially obscured by the balcony roof. And being so far from the stage emphasises the lighting and stage design. There’s plenty of standing room, plus there’s a safety rail to lean. Forget facial detail, though. And dialogue can be obscured by noises like coughs and crisps.
How much are refreshments? A glass of house wine: £4. A small tub of Haagen Dazs: £3. Tub of nuts: £3.
Best for? Making posh new friends in the queue (I met Willy Russell’s lovely wife and a Merchant Ivory film producer).
Other shows at the venue? David Jacobi stars in ‘Twelfth Night’, Dec 5-Mar 7 2009; Dame Judi Dench stars in ‘Madame de Sade’, Mar 13-May 23 2009; Jude Law stars in ‘Hamlet’ May 29-Aug 22 2009.
Donmar at the Wyndhams Theatre, 41 Earlham St, WC2H 9LX (0870 060 6624/www.donmarwarehouse.com). Leicester Square tube.

Royal Court
What we saw Christopher Shinn’s ‘Now or Later’.
How much? Just 10p for a standing ticket in the slips! Eight tickets are available every evening at the box office an hour before the show.
How’s the view? Pretty restricted. There are four standing spaces on each side – the further away from the stage you stand, the better the view but the angle and wall frame obstruct about a fifth of the stage. Any additional sight restrictions depend entirely on the size of the head directly in front of you. It’s uncomfortable and space is very limited. But it would seem ridiculous to complain about something that costs 10p, and if you’re lucky, and nifty, you can ‘magpie’ a seat in the circle.
How much are refreshments? A glass of house wine: £3.60. A packet of Tyrells: £1.
Best for? Considering you can’t even buy chewing gum for 10p these days, this has to be London’s best culture bargain.
What else is on? ‘Wig Out!’, Nov 21-Jan 10 2009; ‘Off the Wall’ season from Feb 5.
Royal Court Theatre, Sloane Sq, SW1W 8AS (020 7565 5000/www.royalcourttheatre.com). Sloane Square tube.