The Diary
of
Anne Ku

29 October 2000 Sunday

LONDON THEATRE GUIDE

One of my reasons for coming to London to study was to take advantage of the discounted theatre tickets. If you could afford to pay the full price, why would you get the best seat? Thus, half an hour before the show, some of the most expensive seats are still empty. Some theatres sell these at half price to students, the unemployed, and the elderly. These are the people who can least afford it, but have the most "time" flexibility. Those of us who could afford to pay the full price are usually also most time-inflexible.

Getting used to paying the full price has been difficult. Last week I went to see Daryl Hannah in Marilyn Monroe's role in the play version of The Seven Year Itch. Ouch! I said to myself when I got to the box office to pick up my pre-booked tickets and learned that they had just started to discount for students.

When my friends visit from out of town, they ask to go to the threatre with me. Having seen most of the long-playing ones, I sometimes feel I'm depriving them the pleasure of really doing "Broadway."

One friend had to blindfold me to The Phantom of the Opera when he found out that I had seen it already. I almost slept through Les Miserables the third time round.

Looking at the latest London Theatre Guide today, I instinctively crossed out the musicals Starlight Express, Cats, Blood Brothers, Buddy, Fame, Mamma Mia, and Fosse. Then I crossed out the plays The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (abridged), Copenhagen, Stones in his Pockets, The Woman in Black, An Inspector Calls, The Mousetrap, The Graduate, and Art.

So Charlie and Peter, if you're reading this, I would like to see any of the following plays: Fallen Angels (excellent review in the paper), Brief Encounter (famous actress, Noel Coward's), The Accused (by Jeffrey Archer but not playing till Nov 30), The Blue Room.

Yesterday

Tomorrow

Related Links:

London Theatre Guide

Ticketmaster

First Call Tickets

Ticket Select

London Theatre Bookings

West end Theatre Booking

Theatre Breaks