How Many Plays in London Do You Routinely See on One Trip

That's an easy one to answer. None.

I love theatre! We will be in London for 6 nights next June, and I am planning for 3 nights of theatre. I usually plan a slightly later start the next morning after a show.

I can’t remember the last time I went to a play in London and quite possible it’s never. And I’m there these days most months.
I equally wouldn’t count going to a standard theatre performance as a late night. Most shows will finish around 10pm which would not be regarded as late in London.

On my visit to London (7 nights in November), I attended a Christmas themed show and Les Miserables which I previously saw on Broadway several years ago, on a Wednesday night, then a Thursday night. The day after the first night I casually visited only the British Museum, and the second morning I took a planned 3 hour train ride to my next destination.

In our 9 trips to London, the only one where we scheduled a play was Hamilton, in Mar 2020 and you know what happened to that plan. Honestly, after seeing the original Hamilton on Disney, any other version would be a let-down.
We have seen 4 plays in New York.

Love London theatre.

First play seen in 1972 was London Assurance with Judi Dench and Donald Swindon.

Over the years have seen Maggie Smith, Mark Ryland, Brenda Blythen, Daniel Craig, David Tennant, Rupert Graves, and Mark Gatis, among others on stage.

Already have tix to see Leslie Manville and Mark Strong in Oedipus and Jodi Whitaker in The Dutchess this trip.

There will be other productions I’ll try to see that aren’t in the West End as I’ll review whats on at the Richmond Theatre, Tristan Bates Theatre, Finborough Theatre and others.

Born when Truman was in office and seeing an evening performance has no effect on my early AM walks, strolls and meanders.

It’s London!

EDIT: its all about the ice cream cups sold at intermission

Claudia, first time I saw a play in London was in mid-May 1977. I am not sure whether it was the first play I saw on that visit, but I did see A Chorus Line for the first time.

I am also scheduled to see Oedipus. Mark Rylance is appearing in the Juno and the Paycock.

I may have to check out the other theaters you mentioned.

I have never had the ice cream at intermission.

I pretty much see a show every night in London. Last year I saw 8 shows. I’ll be arriving this Saturday for 6 nights and I plan to see 6 shows.

I’m a night owl. Shows usually end between 10 and 10:30. This isn’t that late to me as I am routinely up until midnight. Most museums don’t open until 10am or so.

I’ve seen dozens of London shows over the years and have gotten to see Judi Dench, Helen Mirren, Ian McKellan, David Tennant, and a number of other well-known actors. I love London theatre.

I would be one who would go a couple of times in a week’s stay, if possible. And the ice cream cups at intermission is so interesting. I haven’t bought one yet, but did ask someone next to me about the custom the first time I saw it. They had no idea why it’s a thing.

A number of years ago we were in London for four nights and saw four shows. Arrived on train from York, went to TKTS booth en route to hotel and got excellent seats for Kinky Boots that evening. Night #2 we had bought advance seats for Ma Rainey at the National Theatre - while picking up our tix I asked whether any seats had been released for sold out The Flick [by Annie Baker] - they had been - so we bought those for night #4. For night #3 we went back to TKTS and got tix for a revival of How the Other Half Loves at the Haymarket - this turned out to be a great show.

Nights out in no way affected our daytime acttivites, which also included a tour of the Globe.

With so many shows available, it's a great way to see amazing theater - how many opportunities do you have at home?

I'm another Brit who never even thinks about going to the Theatre in London. The last time I did so will be close to 40 years ago- predictably the Mousetrap.

It just isn't on my agenda, and a large part of the reason is cost, but I am also just too busy constantly chasing my tail.

I understand London is cheaper than Broadway and do know about the costs of running Theatres, but my mind still struggles to reconcile the ticket costs. I almost had an unexpected chance earlier this year (at no cost), and would have loved to take it, but couldn't make my frantic calendar this summer work.
I was very grateful for the offer at the time.

But if roles were reversed and I was travelling in the states It is something I would think about.

Tickets to the theatre in London is a lot cheaper than here in the states. We usually see 2-3/shows. I was going to take my granddaughter to see Hamilton here in Ohio, two tickets was $589.00; my sister in law and I went to see Hamilton in London we paid $125.00 per ticket for great seats in the stall.

On our recent trip we saw one show in our 11 night stay. That was about right for us.

We usually see just one show. In April it was "Player Kings" (Henry IV Parts 1 & 2 combined) with Ian McKellen (yes, he fell off the stage at a later performance) and Toheeb Jimoh, and in June we went to see "Hello, Dolly!" with Imelda Staunton on a friend's recommendation. You're right, it makes for a late night, but so fun.

I go to one a trip if there is a show that caught my interest.

On a week long trip we usually see 1-3, it depends on the choices really. We are often in London for longer than a week every few years.

I usually see three plays in London, but I have already seen four on one visit. Never before five. This year I have tickets for five shows. Unless there is something I really want to see for which I can get a cheap ticket on the morning of the performance, I am going to resist the temptation to shoot for six.

I have a tendency to push myself too hard on my travels. If you go to the theater, you may not be getting back to your hotel until 10:45 or so. If you do that night after night, especially if you are physically active during the day (which I am), it can take a toll on the body. This trip my goal is to pace myself better than I have in the past.

Re TTM's comments about the ice cream cups- here is a bit of the history of Usherette Trays- https://www.usherettetrays.com/history-of-usherette-trays/#:~:text=Usherette%20Trays%20have%20a%20long%20history,%20much%20of%20it%20in

Basically it was all about catching a captive audience- in the cinema (movie theatre) they survived well into my lifetime, it is probably only in the last decade that I have seen the last of them (The Alhambra in Keswick was one of the last places to continue them).

I can remember vividly buying packs of sweets off them (Cadbury fruit and nut bars were another treat usually reserved for the cinema when I was younger), but it was a really guilty pleasure having an ice cream- at a time when little ice cream cups like that weren't in every corner store like they are now.
The usherettes and ushers added a glamour to going to the movies, as well as the wonderful decoration of many of the movie palaces- the escape for a couple of hours from normal life.

Ah, Stuart - interesting read. I still think there’s something special about the tradition. In other cities, it’s wine or coffee or cake. In London, it’s ice cream. It’s a tradition I can get behind!

Laura, I saw Player Kings in May - fortunately before Sir Ian injured himself. A night to remember. :)

I always see at least one. I love London theatre. In 2022 I went to SIX which was fantastic. It was near Covent Garden for a fun walkaround before & after and it was only 90 minutes long-no intermission.

For our May 2024 trip, we weren't sure how much energy we'd have after a few days in London and a week in Yorkshire before returning to London. We only purchased tickets to the ABBA Experience in advance. When we got into London (with 5 nights left) we decided we wanted to go to a show or two more. The pickings were slimmer, and our schedule was a little tricky (1 day trip to Canterbury) but we squeezed in Hamilton and Tina, in addition to ABBA, so 3 shows in 5 days. We had thought about another for the final night, a Tuesday, before heading to a Heathrow hotel. However, many theatres were dark so we just had a nice meal out. We were disappointed to see 2 shows from US but we'd never seen Hamilton other than the recorded original. The theatre was lovely.
Since we stayed at the PI County Hall, I wish we had gotten tickets to Witness for the Prosecution, but they were sold out.

We are in London now. We went to ABBA with our daughter and her partner within hours of arriving from Seattle. Last night, Friday, we took advantage of a late night museum, and tomorrow night we will see The Play that Goes Wrong (again, last minute tickets). We could've gone to Witness, but at this late, only single seats were available.

I would like to visit during the winter and would plan shows at least 3/7 days if I could. I would book ahead.

Just completed my fourth trip to London, and have seen a play or musical every time: 1) "Two Into One", a farce (this was almost 40 years ago!) 2) Wicked 3) Waitress 4) Moulin Rouge. We also see at least one production every time we're in NYC.