Cheap Theatre Tickets in London for a Date: Rushes, Standing and Under-35 Schemes

Why cheap theatre suits a date

The catch is that the cheapest London tickets are rationed by time rather than price. Most of the schemes below open at a specific hour on a specific day, sell a limited number, and come with rules about age, ID, standing or how many you can buy. Everything here comes from each venue's own pages as read on 14 October 2026, except where we say otherwise. Schemes change between seasons, so check before you plan around one.

Shakespeare's Globe: £5 and £10 yard tickets

The Globe on Bankside opened in 1997 as a reconstruction of the 1599 playhouse, according to Wikipedia, which describes audiences standing as groundlings in the open yard. The Globe's current listings for Much Ado About Nothing and As You Like It give standing prices of £10, with £5 on some performances, and seats in the galleries from £29 to £89. Its Much Ado page gives a running time of 2 hours 30 minutes including a 20-minute interval; As You Like It runs 2 hours 40 minutes.

The £5 Rush is the cheapest route. The Globe's Rush page says tickets are released every Friday at 11am for performances in the following Monday to Sunday. Before 11am you join a queue and get a random number; when you reach the front you pick a performance, choose the Yard on the seating map and add Rush tickets if any remain. The page says sold-out shows are included, the number released is limited and not stated, tickets are first come first served and non-transferable, and the scheme covers Globe Theatre performances only, not the Sam Wanamaker Playhouse. Every Rush ticket is standing, so you need to be able to stand for the whole show; anyone with access requirements is asked to call the Box Office on 020 7401 9919 before the release.

The Globe's show pages say £5 and £10 standing tickets are exempt from the £3 transaction fee charged on other orders. Members get two free standing tickets for one performance a year.

Indoors, the candlelit Sam Wanamaker Playhouse also sells standing places for some shows. The Globe's page for Julius Caesar, playing there from 6 November, lists standing at £5 or £10 depending on the performance, with some performances offering none. Wikipedia says the Playhouse opened in January 2014.

• Shakespeare's Globetheatre

  21 New Globe Walk, Bankside, SE1 9DT

  £5 Rush for standing yard tickets every Friday at 11am for the following week; ordinary yard standing £10, gallery seats £29 to £89 on current listings.

Royal Court: £15 Mondays and 10p standing

The Royal Court's Ways to Save page lists three options. On £15 Mondays, all tickets for both the Jerwood Theatre Downstairs and the Jerwood Theatre Upstairs are £15. They go on sale at 9am on the day of the show, online only, with a limit of two per booking; a limited number are offered in advance to Friends, Members, Writers Card+ Members and Supporters.

The 10p standing tickets apply only to the Jerwood Theatre Downstairs. The page says a small number are released 90 minutes before each performance, priced 10p in cash or £1 by card, two per person, sold in person at the Box Office only. From 12pm you can collect a queue number for the next performance, leave the building, and come back to the waiting area 90 minutes before curtain. On matinee days, evening numbers are only issued once the matinee has started. You stand in designated windows on the Circle level.

For 2026, the page says people aged 25 or under can get £5 off selected price bands on Thursday and Saturday performances. It does not give prices or proof-of-age rules, so ask the Box Office.

• Royal Court Theatretheatre

  Sloane Square, SW1

  £15 for every seat on Mondays, on sale online at 9am that day; 10p cash or £1 card standing places in the Downstairs theatre, released 90 minutes before each show.

Almeida: £5 for 25s and under

The Almeida in Islington says it holds back £5 tickets for people aged 25 or under on selected performances of every production, including audio described, captioned and relaxed performances. The limit is two per person, and proof of age is required when you collect. Online, you enter the promo code 25UNDER before choosing seats; by phone, call 020 7359 4404 and quote 25 and Under. The page says tickets usually go on sale about three weeks before a production's previews, and a same-day £5 ticket gets 20% off at the café and bar.

Its concessions page lists further rates: 30s and under, over 65s and people claiming Jobseekers Allowance, none valid on Thursday, Friday or Saturday, plus an ISFIRST code for people living or working in listed Islington postcodes. It says prices vary between shows, all concessions are limited, proof of eligibility is needed, and in a production's final week concessions apply only to access bookings.

• Almeida Theatretheatre

  Islington, N1

  £5 tickets for 25s and under on selected performances, code 25UNDER, two per person, proof of age at collection.

Donmar Warehouse: £20 for 16 to 35s and £15 standing

The Donmar in Covent Garden runs a 35 and Under scheme at £20 a ticket. Its page says you join the 35 and Under List in your account's contact preferences, add your date of birth, and log in when booking; available £20 seats show as blue stars on the seating plan, and if none show, they have sold out. You can buy up to two, your guest must also be 16 to 35 at the time of the performance, and both of you need proof of age, such as a passport or driving licence, to collect. Tickets are non-transferable and non-refundable, and the scheme does not cover Donmar shows at other theatres. Its tickets page says these seats include the front row.

The same tickets page describes a Daily Release: a small allocation, including £15 standing tickets, released online at 10am Monday to Saturday for performances seven days later, subject to availability. Returns are sold online and can be asked for in person. The page lists a £1.75 transaction fee on bookings and says exchanges or credit need at least 24 hours' notice.

• Donmar Warehousetheatre

  Covent Garden, WC2

  £20 tickets for 16 to 35s on its email list; Daily Release at 10am Monday to Saturday, including £15 standing, for performances a week later.

TKTS in Leicester Square

TKTS is the not-for-profit booth in the Clocktower Building on the south side of Leicester Square. Wikipedia says the Society of London Theatre has run it since 1980, originally as the Half Price Ticket Booth. Official London Theatre's TKTS page gives opening hours of 10.30am to 6pm Monday to Saturday and 11am to 4pm on Sunday, and says new on-the-day tickets are released online at 12.01am every day.

The booth sells both discounted and full-price tickets, and may add shows and update prices through the day. It says it does not offer concession rates, and that booking fees cover the booth's running costs. On the check date, Official London Theatre's same-day listings showed West End starting prices from £15 upwards, with some shows marked as up to a stated percentage off, so TKTS suits a spontaneous date rather than the cheapest possible seat.

• TKTSticket booth

  Clocktower Building, Leicester Square, WC2 · Nearest: Leicester Square

  Open Monday to Saturday 10.30am to 6pm and Sunday 11am to 4pm; same-day tickets online from 12.01am; no concession rates.

Kiln, Barbican, National Theatre and the Old Vic

Kiln Theatre in Kilburn did not set out its schemes on the pages we could read. A WhatsOnStage report dated 2 June 2026 says Kiln confirmed it is continuing a £10 ticket programme for under-26s and £5 preview tickets for Brent and Camden residents. Kiln's own Kiln Card page describes a £40 annual card with priority booking and cinema benefits, but does not mention those schemes, so confirm with the box office on 020 7328 1000.

The Barbican's Young Barbican page says the scheme is free to join for people aged 16 to 29, with tickets from £6 and the option to bring a friend in the same age range, covering films, exhibitions, concerts and shows.

The National Theatre's website returned an error to us on 14 October 2026, so we cannot confirm its current schemes. Wikipedia notes that it ran an under-26 Entry Pass at £7.50 under Nicholas Hytner, who led the theatre from 2003 to 2015; that is history, not a current price. Check the National's own site.

The Old Vic's ticket information page lists senior, under-16, access and group rates and free OV Local membership for Lambeth and Southwark residents, but on the check date it did not list a young person's scheme.

Choosing a scheme for a date

If you both like to plan, set a reminder for the Globe Rush on Friday at 11am or the Donmar Daily Release at 10am, and book together. If one of you prefers spontaneity, a Monday at the Royal Court or a walk past TKTS is easier. Under-age schemes need both of you to qualify at the Donmar, so check ages before you book. Standing for over two hours is a real ask; talk about it first rather than assuming.

Before you go

• Check the venue's own page on the day. Prices and rules here are as published on 14 October 2026 and change between seasons.
• Bring photo ID for any age-based ticket. The Almeida and the Donmar both say proof of age is required at collection.
• Carry some cash for the Royal Court's 10p standing tickets; by card the price is £1.
• Rush and standing tickets mean standing for the whole show. If either of you has access needs, call the box office before the release time.
• Most young-person tickets are limited to two per person and are non-transferable, so book in the name of whoever will collect.

Questions people ask

What is the cheapest theatre ticket in London?

On the venues' own pages, the Royal Court's standing tickets in the Jerwood Theatre Downstairs cost 10p in cash or £1 by card, released in person 90 minutes before each show. Shakespeare's Globe sells £5 standing yard tickets through its Friday Rush, and the Almeida sells £5 tickets to people aged 25 or under.

How does the Globe's £5 Rush work?

The Globe says Rush tickets are released online every Friday at 11am for Globe Theatre performances the following Monday to Sunday, including sold-out shows. Join the queue before 11am, choose a performance, select the Yard and add tickets if any remain. They are standing only, limited in number and non-transferable, and do not cover the Sam Wanamaker Playhouse.

Can I bring a date who is older than 35 on the Donmar's £20 scheme?

No. The Donmar's page says you can buy up to two £20 tickets, but your guest must also be aged 16 to 35 at the time of the performance, and both of you must show proof of age to collect them.

Does TKTS offer student or concession prices?

No. Official London Theatre's TKTS page says the booth does not offer concession rates. It sells discounted and full-price tickets, releasing same-day tickets online at 12.01am, and the Leicester Square booth opens 10.30am to 6pm Monday to Saturday and 11am to 4pm on Sunday.