Are Theatre Memberships Worth It?

Posted on (Updated on 30 Apr 2024)

In my ever growing quest for cheap theatre tickets, I like my average ticket cost to be around £15-20 over a calendar year. I’ve taken out lots of theatre memberships across London theatres but are they worth the one-off cost or direct debit? If you genuinely want to support the arts then memberships are worth the money but if like me you are after priority booking, bar discounts and other goodies it is more debatable. I’ll compare and contrast my (current) memberships.

The National Theatre has been my longest running membership, it stems from a loyalty to them after I got too old for Entry Pass. I currently pay £15 per year for an Advance Membership but other more expensive memberships are available and frankly worth paying the extra for. The issue with Advance is that you are one day ahead of public booking but the more expensive memberships have had a good week or so to get those £15 tickets. For Travelex productions you stand more of a chance but as National Theatre ticket prices increase and the programme gets more interesting I would recommend forking out for a Priority membership worth £80.

Across Waterloo Bridge at the Old Vic a Friends membership starts at £35 and whilst the option of £10 tickets for the first five previews exists I would argue that membership isn’t essential for cheap tickets but is essential if you are planning on going to one London theatre’s biggest events; Glenda Jackson as King Lear. A friend of mine mentioned her husband wanted to go but had a fear of non-stalls seats (Note to all cheap theatre ticket explorers-good legs for stairs and a relaxed attitude to heights are a must) and also wanted cheap tickets. I don’t think the Old Vic will provide cheap tickets based on their The Master Builder dynamic pricing but you will get access to those tickets before the public and sometimes the preview ticket approach is just too risky.

Outside of the centre of London there are lots of excellent theatres who need our support. I recently purchased membership for the Almeida and Hampstead Theatres (both £50), both are exciting venues with emerging talents and big names (Almeida will have Richard III with Ralph Fiennes and Vanessa Redgrave in the summer) and actually offer lots of great opportunities for the public like cheaper tickets if you are under-30 or local to the area but a membership supports these small theatres at a time when arts funding is being cut across the country. I also commend the Young Vic’s Two Boroughs scheme as a Lambeth dweller. If you live in Southwark or Lambeth they offer free tickets to Young Vic’s productions, including recent hits like A View from a Bridge’s transfer to Wydham’s Theatre in central London.

I wish there was a West End membership that covered the whole of theatreland, imagine a single card that could get you in to every theatre in the capital! I'd be walking to Wicked on Monday, going back to Back to the Future the Musical on Tuesday, brushing up on my detective skills at The Mousetrap on Wednesday... you get the idea. 

Theatre is thriving in spite of the increased costs to audience members but increasingly the theatres have responded to these cuts with strong and interesting programming over the next couple of years that is worth supporting for a relatively small donation and this trend is being seen nationwide in venues like the RSC and Chichester Festival, which have seen many transfers come to the capital as well as memberships like ATG, which are perfect for those who like local theatre and see theatre in London.


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By Shanine Salmon

Shanine Salmon was a latecomer to theatre after being seduced by the National Theatre's £5 entry pass tickets and a slight obsession with Alex Jennings. She is sadly no longer eligible for 16-25 theatre tickets but she continues to abuse under 30 offers. There was a market for bringing awareness that London theatre was affordable in an era of £100+ West End tickets – Shanine’s blog, View from the Cheap Seat, launched in April 2016, focuses on productions and theatres that have tickets available for £20 and under. She is also quite opinionated and has views on diversity, pricing, theatre seats and nudity on stage. Her interests include Rocky Horror, gaming, theatre (of course) and she also has her own Etsy shop. Shanine tweets at @Braintree_.