Buying Tickets Online:	Other Box Office Information
Tickets offered differ between outlets. Outlets also may offer different seats via their phone and online systems. Offers may be available click here.

Theatre Box Office: www.ticketmaster.co.uk provide the service for this theatre. This system allows you to choose your own seats.   Booking fees per ticket for online bookings: £2 per booking (not per ticket) handling fee. No fee is charged if you choose to collect your tickets on the day at the venue, rather than have them mailed to you. Other Online Choices (with S.T.A.R. genuine ticket agencies): For performances until 30th March 2012, Theatremonkey readers can buy some best available top non-premium price £47.50 tickets (from agency / offer allocation) reduced to £23.75 each at all Monday to Friday performances ONLY. Not available at any performance on or between 13th and 17th February 2012 inclusive. Ticket selection is from agency's allocation. Subject to allocation availability, change, withdrawal and agency discretion. Book online at the Theatremonkey Ticketshop. Click the "Apply Special Offer" button above the calendar grid to highlight available offer dates in green on it. Or else book by telephone from LoveTheatre, quoting "Theatremonkey Ticketshop" on 020 7907 7000. At other times, when the theatre does not have the tickets you desire available, it is well worth trying the Theatremonkey Ticketshop agency, which offers £47.50 seats with a £4.75 fee (£4.95 on £49.50, £3.75 on £37.50, £2.75 on £27.50 seats) - moderate by agency standards, though higher than box office fees, worth trying as they often have an alternative choice of seats available! Note that this system will confirm exact seat numbers prior to purchase. Another alternative is www.seetickets.com / telephone 0870 830 0200 which offers £47.50 seats with a £4.75 fee (£4.95 on £49.50 seats) and £2 per booking (not per ticket) postal charge. (FREE call if using BT.com Calling Plan at your chosen times). Encore Tickets (telephone 0207 400 1253 / 0044 207 400 1253 if calling from outside the United Kingdom) offer £49.50 seats with a £13.50 booking fee per ticket (£12.50 on £47.50, £7 on £25 seats) plus optional UK postage of £1.50 per booking, not per ticket, available if time allows. The "Flexiticket" Exchange Service, allowing FREE transfer / cancellation (credit note up to 12 months) of your booking up to 3 days before the performance is also available for £2.50 per ticket. Discounts and "Meal and Show" packages may also be available. Quality and Value hotel / theatre ticket packages are also available. Lastminute.com offer £47.50 seats with a £2.85 booking fee per ticket (£2.97 on £49.50 seats). NOTE: Seat numbers are NOT available in advance from this company. All seats booked in the same price group will, of course, be together or at the very least be in front or behind each other in the theatre. In the very unlikely event of this not being possible this company will call you and give you the option of cancelling your booking. However if booking in two or more price bands, you will not be sat together. Please DO NOT purchase if this is unacceptable to you, as all tickets are sold subject to this condition. Discounts and "Meal and Show" packages may also be available. Quality and Value hotel / theatre ticket packages are also available. Londontheatredirect.com offer £49.50 seats with a £6 booking fee per ticket. Discounts and Meal and Show Packages may also be available. ALSO SEE Tickettree.com for great value "hotel and theatre ticket" packages. Other Independent S.T.A.R. ticket agencies may also offer an alternative choice of seats.

Box Office Information:

Tickets offered differ between outlets. Outlets also may offer different seats via their phone and online systems. Offers may be available click here.

Theatre Box Office: Telephone: 0844 847 1778 ( 0161 385 3211 if you cannot use the 0870 number) Operated by Ticketmaster on behalf of the venue. Booking fees per ticket for telephone bookings: £2 per booking (not per ticket) handling fee. No fee is charged if you choose to collect your tickets on the day at the venue, rather than have them mailed to you. For personal callers or by post: Piccadilly Circus, London. W1V 9LB No booking fee for personal callers. Special Access Needs Customers: Wheelchair users and other registered disabled theatregoers can book their seats on 020 7839 8811 and enquire about concessionary prices that may be available to them. The wheelchair users line connects to the theatre box office in London. See Notes.

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Performance Times

Ticket Prices

Where to Buy Tickets

Seating Plan

Seat Opinions

Getting Here

Theatre Seat Opinions:

Please remember that cheaper seats often do not offer the same view / location quality as top price ones, and that ticket prices are designed to reflect this difference. This theatre is underground. It is a very long walk down to the stalls and longer back up to the surface. The infirm or those not related to mountain goats (theatremonkey fortunately has a caprine third cousin) should consider the Upper Circle, which is only just below street level! One reader says, "I thought the theatre was rather nice. Deep under the ground and very old, you could sometimes hear the tube rattling above you. To me, it just added to the magic and the period of the play (you'll see why if you go)!"

Seating Plan Diagram

Stalls

Dress Circle

Upper Circle

Notes

STALLS  The Dress Circle overhangs the stalls at row H. This noticeably affects the view of the top of the stage from row M back. Pillars in rows J, K, N and P further affect views from the rear stalls. Rows A to H seats 5 to 20 offer at least fair value - even if upholstered in a pink shade hitherto unknown to nature. Row E back seems to satisfy most people the most! One reader also rates the seats old, uncomfortable and creaky too... Reader Rebecca (4ft 11) says, "The 39 Steps - I have seen it twice now from row A, seats 10 and 11: It requires some looking up, but I really enjoy the close proximity of the actors, and getting to see every bit of subtlety in their comedic performances. I found leg room here to be average. The seats are a little uncomfortable, but as a comedy the show is shorter than most musicals, so it's less noticeable." Another reader notes: "Sat in seat A16 in the stalls. OK, it’s very close to the action – but it was great!" One reader notes a neck-ache in row C. In row E, reader Tom says, "E11: I got this at a reduced price. This is a small, pretty theatre and E11 is an excellent seat. I wouldn't like to sit further forward as it's a rather 'shouty' performance. There is almost no rake at the front and the seats aren't staggered here so someone tall in the row in front would cause a problem. The seats also seem to be strangely noisy, and if half a dozen people choose to re-settle at the same time it is a bit distracting! By London standards the seats and leg room are reasonable." Reader Jon B adds: "My seat in the stalls (E 16) was fine with a good close view of the stage and reasonable leg room. There's very little rake on the stalls so you could be unlucky if someone tall sits in front of you." Further along the row, a reader reports, "Stalls E18 and E19 gave a good view of the stage and provided adequate legroom." One reader notes, however, "E3: The seat was awful. There is no rake, meaning that if a tall person, or a person with a very dodgy hair-do sits in front of you - you've had it. This meant that I missed much of the first act, as I couldn't see the performance clearly, and also without the people behind poking me saying that I was blocking their view!. In the interval, I spoke to an usher, and they kindly let me sit in the Dress Circle - which again had lots of pillars in view, but was much better than my stalls seat."   A row back a reader says, "centre of Row F: this view was just fine as I had an unblocked view of the stage and was able to enjoy the play." another agrees, "F17 and 18 at £22.50 each with no booking fee. Perfect seats with a full view of the stage." Another reader feels, though: "Sat in row G of the stalls - next time I would definitely choose the dress circle. The rake of the stalls is non-existent and being of fairly average height, I found it hard to make out some of the tap dancing etc at the production I saw." Reader B opines, "K 12 and 13. Good seats, dead centre; a perfect view of everything. The Criterion Theatre is marvellous, but there are seats I wouldn’t want to sit in. Best to check which ones have restricted views before purchasing them." Another reader says, "My seats were great - central to the stage about 10 rows back. I was a little worried as I'm rather short, but the view was okay as long as a giant wasn't sitting in front of me." Rows J to L seats 1 to 4 (L 2 to 4) and 19 to 22 should be avoided as the first pillars interfere here. Accept row J to L seats 5 to 18 grudgingly - frankly, the rest are better. Reader Jackie Bassom noted seats in row M gave a comfy view. Another reader in row M feels, "It's a very small and cramped auditorium. We were wedged into M11 and 12 which were dead centre of the row towards the back. It seems that there is no rake, but the seats were staggered - which helped, as I had to look between two very large heads. The seats were pretty comfy, it has to be said, but partly because once you were in them there was no way you were moving again. It was almost like I was vacuum packed." In the rear stalls row P 12, 15 and 16 normally combine second price with a reasonably pillar free view. All other second price seats are not on this monkey's to buy list unless legroom is a factor. Seats in the stalls affected by pillars are: K 1 and 21; L 2; M 2, 4 and 21; N 1, 3, 4 and 20; P 1 to 4, 7 and 17 to 22; Q 1 to 7, 11, 14, 15, 18 to 24; R 1 to 7, 11, 12, 15, 16 and 19 to 23; S 4 to 7, 10, 11, 14, 15 and 18 to 21. For "The 39 Steps" (September 2006) almost all rear stalls are at third price, making these less avoidable than usual - but still worth picking those not actually behind a pillar, of course. Other officially "restricted view" stalls seats are: A 4 and 21, B 3 to 6, C 2, 3 and 24; D 2 and E 2. An extended proscenium wall seems to be the cause and some readers may want to avoid the seats next to these too. On the other hand, the view is pretty good unless the actors stand far over to the side of the stage... and the price is lower too... A reader says, for "The 39 Steps,": "B 5 and 6: Permanently cheaper because of the restricted view. Sitting in the seats and looking directly forward you are looking at a wall; seat 6 is where the wall ends so that was the better seat. In seat 5 I couldn’t see about 10% of the action, and at the scene in the hotel lobby which is at the far right of the stage I could hardly see anything. I could see the stagehand, though. Seat 6 had no such problem. Some of the action also takes back at the far right back of the stage which is impossible to see from seat 5. The saving grace is that row A ends at seat 5 so seat 5, 4 and 3 have acres of leg room, albeit with a side view. For 90% of the show though the view is superb, and well worth the £22.50 instead of £47.50 ticket price when we saw it (August 2010). The theatremonkey seating plan is slightly wrong as seat B4 has no seat in front of it (not wrong, just unable to show it for technical reasons - editor). With the seat colour, carpet and wall paint I always feel like I’m sitting in some one’s lounge at the Criterion!" The monkey raised the rating of B6 for view, and left the rest 'fair value' for comfort reasons if nothing else. Some feel that C3 and 23 and M 4 and 21 are worthwhile at fourth price, despite restricted views, and a few others are happy with the first seats in rows D, E, L and M too at the same price. The rest of the Stalls seats can cheerfully be ignored by most, though, is the feeling. Also, the edges for row A to E (A to F on the "high numbers" side) have been reduced - partly due to the fake proscenium arch, guesses the monkey. Worth a look at the price perhaps, for the less picky. Legroom is adequate throughout the Stalls. Reader Steph feels that central row A legroom is notably good. Another advises in row M, "If you are 6' then leave your legs at the box office before you enter... you will then have a much more comfortable evening."   DRESS CIRCLE  The Upper Circle overhangs the Dress Circle at row B. Pillars holding it up are liberally scattered in front of row C. Row B seats 10 to 20 are the best value here, followed (for the less long legged) by row A 9 to 25. If given the choice though, this monkey opts for top price stalls instead. Row A 12 to 17 are "premium" seats at £5 more. Possibly worthwhile for the central view alone, feels the monkey. In row A, a reader says, "We had seats A22 and A23 in the Dress Circle, which had adequate legroom (friend 5’ 8”) and an excellent view." Reader Dan notes, "I went to see 'The 39 Steps' in December 2007. We had booked a 'best available seat' deal for the bargain price of £10 per ticket, and were allocated Dress Circle Row B, seats 6 to 9. For my friends in seats 6 to 8, the view was fantastic as there was no one in front of them. Unfortunately, I had a (normal-sized) gentleman in front of me in seat A9, whose head blocked out a portion of the centre of the stage for much of the performance. Strangely enough, I didn't actually miss much of the action, but I just wanted to advise fellow theatregoers that the Dress Circle rake at this theatre doesn't really count for much. I probably could have moved to one of the seats in Row AA, but didn't think this would actually improve things due to the odd viewing angle from there. In any case, for £10 I was hardly complaining!" Of the other seats, only C 8, 11, 12, 14, 15, 18 and 19 are worthwhile since they are between the pillars. From row D a reader says, "We sat in the seats 6 and 7. Although we paid less than half the price, I personally wouldn't have minded paying full price for these. The legroom is very small, but the chairs are comfortable. The view is outstanding. I was worried about the pillars, but they are so small, that neither of us had an obstructed view at all! It was quite a charming place to sit, you could see everything in pure detail (on stage, and around the theatre). I would sit here anyday." Against this, another opines, "D13 - Hated the show but was a good seat none the less, I think Stalls would be better in this theatre as I felt a bit distant." If shorter, of course, feels the monkey. Seats officially designated "restricted view" due to pillars are:  Row C 5, 9, 20 and 24; D 1, 2, 4, 5, 8, 12, 16, 20, 24, 27 and 28; E 1 to 5, 8, 9, 13, 17, 18, 21, 22, 25, 28 and 29; F 4 to 7, 10, 21, 22, 25 to 27; G 6 to 9. AA 1, 2, 3, 28 and 29 also have viewing problems. Legroom is poor for the taller, worst in row A.     Dress Circle Boxes Boxes A, B, C and D are at Dress Circle level. All are located at the sides of the theatre, either side of the stage. Boxes A and B are best, followed by C and D. All offer a side view of the stage; the odd viewing angle preventing seeing the nearest edge of the stage to the box. These boxes offer a good alternative to all the pillar blighted seats in the rest of the theatre. A and B seat 4 people, C and D seat 2.   UPPER CIRCLE This overhangs the Dress Circle at row B. Being fairly low and without any pillars (how does the roof stay up?) these seats are good value normally. Select row B first, then C, then A as last resort - it is much more expensive too, so go for B and save money!  A reader reports, though, "The front row may be cramped but I would try it if I wanted to go again. I was in B11, my daughter and wife were in B12 and B13. My wife had difficulty until she could lean sideways after B14 and B15 decamped to somewhere in C. I was lucky, A10 and A11 did not turn up, but if A11 had done his/her head would have been centre stage. My wife tells me that row C were complaining and asking, without success, to be moved." Reader Simon puts another opinion, "B 21 to 23: (£25 from Ticketmaster). Good value we thought; decent legroom (I'm 5'11") and a good view even for my 10 year-old, albeit through the gaps between the heads in row A - only a problem if they leaned forward. There were no seats behind us so we could have sat on a coat or bag for extra height if we'd needed to!" Useful tip, feels the monkey. Reader Taljaard adds, "Paid £27.50 for a decent view on the top shelf." Two wheelchair spaces next to C20. The view is slightly restricted but adequate value. See notes. Legroom is poor, notably in row A. A six foot tall reader cautions, "I was sat in the upper circle in the front row and I just couldn't fit in at all, ended up having to sit sideways and then just stood to the side instead. I was given the ticket for £10 and even at that price it wasn't worth it."   Upper Circle Boxes Boxes E and F are at Upper Circle level. Both are located at the sides of the theatre, either side of the stage. They offer a side view of the stage; the odd viewing angle preventing seeing the nearest edge of the stage to the box. Sold at third price normally, these boxes offer a good alternative to all the pillar blighted seats in the rest of the theatre. Both seat 2 people. Reader James says, "Sat in Box E - the view was fine for £10, but you really do have to lean forwards to see anything, almost out of the box! Hard on the legs too, as you're pressed right up against the edge of the box. Also worth knowing is that the boxes can only be booked over the phone, and no booking fee or postage was charged at all, unlike for the other seats in the theatre!"   Notes Total 590 seats. Air-conditioned auditorium. Reader Tom rated it good in July 2010. Hearing loop available. Occasional signed performances. Guide dog sitter available. Access to Wheelchair places via firedoor and down a slope. Adapted unisex toilet available (segregated would have been nicer). Specific details www.theatre-access.co.uk, Artsline 020 7388 2227, email artsline@dicon.co.uk.  A "venue access guide" from the team who created book "Theatremonkey, A Guide to London's West End," is available to download in PDF format by clicking here. No food except Ice cream and confectionery. Two Bars. Stalls and Dress Circle. 2 toilets. Dress Circle 1 gents 3 cubicles, 1 ladies 8 cubicles. Reader Sara Levene comments, "I would like to commend this theatre for having 8 cubicles in the stalls’ Ladies loo – all female theatregoers will understand that this is a very positive recommendation."

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Performance Times

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Where to Buy Tickets

Seating Plan

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Getting Here

Getting to this Theatre

Find this theatre on a Street Map

Nearest Underground Station

Buses

Car Park

Nearest Underground Station: Piccadilly Circus - Piccadilly (Dark Blue) and Bakerloo (Brown) lines. Plan your tube journey to this station using the button below: The escalator from the platforms ends in a large circular underground area.  After leaving the barriers, turn to your left, and follow the curve of the barriers around until you see an exit to your right with the sign "Subway 4" over it. Walk under this sign. Walk through this tunnel and ignore the first staircase to your right, marked "Shaftesbury Avenue". Continue along the tunnel passing the "Trocadero" doors, and follow it as it curves round. Follow the arrow on the sign ahead of you that says "Eros" - it points on down the tunnel to your right.  In this new section of tunnel, take the stairs ahead and to your right up to the street. At the top of the stairs, the Criterion Theatre is to your right.

Buses: 3, 6, 9, 12, 13, 14, 15, 19, 22, 23, 38, 55, 88, and 159 to Piccadilly Circus.   Taxi: A rank for Black taxis is at Charing Cross Station - a good distance from the theatre, if you cannot hail one in the busy street outside the venue.

Car Park: Denman Street. Leave the car park and turn to your left. Walk to the end of the street into Shaftesbury Avenue. If you pass the Piccadilly Theatre, wrong way. At Shaftesbury Avenue turn to your right and walk along through the covered area filled with ATM cash points and artists towards Piccadilly Circus. If you pass the Lyric Theatre, wrong way. On Piccadilly Circus, pick any crossing route to the statue known as Eros (actually the Angel of Charity, Lord Shaftesbury's monument) - a bloke with a bow and arrow. This stands on a large pedestrian area on one side of the square. The Criterion Theatre is behind it.

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Performance Times

Ticket Prices

Where to Buy Tickets

Seating Plan

Seat Opinions

Getting Here

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