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

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.

Unfortunately, my last two trips the answer has been none. My first trips I saw We Will Rock You the first one, and the next trip was scheduled around seeing Ewan McGregor in Guys and Dolls. I had wanted to take my son to Matilda last year but the timing didn't work out (we were only there 3 days). I'm currently planning a trip for next November and am really hoping to go see something then, no idea what. I think my son would love Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, but London is still doing the two-night version (I saw the condensed version in NYC) and I don't think he'd be comfortable with a show that long even if we split it up between two different days.

I hadn't seen a musical in years prior to my June trip to NYC this year. We saw The Great Gatsby (pretty good) and Suffs (phenomenal) and I very much want to go back and see more! Or try harder to see traveling shows near me.

In a week-long trip I will shoot for 4-5 plays if I'm with my husband, probably 3 if I'm with friends. (By myself I would probably see 7!) I start booking tickets as soon as I have a plane ticket, months ahead. I could possibly sleep in a box under a bridge, but best seats available for theatre is my goal.

RJ, Just saw Oedipus with Leslie Manville and Mark Strong tonight. Wow. Just riveting. It sounds like that is on your list and I don’t think you will be disappointed. There won’t be ice cream though because it is 2 hours with no interval.

I saw ”The Real Thing” with Bel Powley a couple nights ago and it was very enjoyable.

Laura, thank you for the reviews. Yes, I have tickets for both Oedipus and The Real Thing.

It is amazing the shows you can catch in London if you do your homework and have some schedule flexibility. In the spring, Brian Cox and Patricia Clarkson starred in Long Day's Journey into Night. The critics hailed Clarkson's performance.

Simply going to add other than seeing the closing night of Chorus Line with the original NY cast in 1976, the other most memorable night of theatre was in London. Saw the quintessential American musical Guys and Dolls with the brilliant Clive Rowe as Nicely Nicely. 10 minutes of whooping, hollering with a standing ovation following his rendition of “sit down you’re rockin the boat. Exhilarating theatre memory.”

My answer to the question in the title is none. The last play we saw in London was Mousetrap in about 1985. The last main theatre play was at Stratford upon Avon about 2010 or 2009. The last plays of any sort were at the Wellingborough Castle watching school plays up until 2017, the last "Wind in the Willows" with our favourite young actor playing Badger.

We typically go to a performance of some kind once in a 4 night trip. To manage the evening, we usually do a pre-theatre menu and enjoy walking back to our hotel after the show. I don't think my partner went to the theatre a single time while living in London and working off The Strand, but he humors me. We typically are out late every night of our visit, so we don't notice any difference energy-wise. To manage our late nights, we drink a lot of tea during the day and my partner likes to have some downtime in the afternoon back at the hotel. We have friends who choose a matinee so they can have a leisurely dinner later.

Claudia, can I add that one of my three top theater experiences was seeing A Chorus Line in London in May 1977 (the others were Dreamgirls with the original cast and Rent on Broadway).

As a major aside, that trip was the first time I ever flown on an airplane (Delta from New Orleans to New York). The round-trip fare from New York to Luxembourg was $399. My last night in London I did not have a hotel room. I drank coffee and walked the streets all night. The next day, I made it to the English coast, caught a ferry to Belgium and then a train to Luxembourg, and found an incredibly cheap room in Luxembourg at 9 o'clock. I was younger then.

OP that was quite adventurous.

Must say for some of a certain age walking the streets has a different connotation. :-)

As an aside and to add another London theatre experience during my 2021 stay I choose to see Witness for the Prosecution at County Hall. In my youth I had read all of Agatha Christies books.

The staging of the production is in an actual courtroom. Lovely elderly couple sat to me.

As it’s a Christie story there is a twist. At conclusion as the lights dimmed and the applause began the man to my left uttered aloud “oh my I didn’t see that coming.”

Still makes me smile.

I didn't it coming either. But then I spent 90 minutes deploring how weak the prosecutor's case and presentation were and trading evidentiary objections (there were many) with a gentleman sitting nearby who had studied law in the UK.

And it wasn't any sense of adventure. It was lack of money and good sense.

For me it was entertainment.

Nothing more, nothing less.

In my youth spent an entire Summer reading all
of her books. Poirot, Miss Marple and some short stories.

As John Steinbeck was quoted “ I guess there are never enough books. “

Back to my coffee and reading In The Garden of Beasts.