Theatre Memberships.

I become occasional Almeida member if its something that;ll sell. I got lucky and timed my last one for a year and got the Macbeth and Streetcar booking periods

Barbican membership is very good.

Since i got AMEX, ive not bothered with the national

I have an ATG card, which pays for itself because of not paying booking fees, plus it's nice to have early booking on popular things. I also have Royal Court membership, but will probably let that lapse because I haven't been there so much recently, and I never have difficulty getting tickets for dates I want.

I'd consider getting more, mainly for access to early booking on big selling plays. I didn't manage to get Donmar Macbeth tickets (though fortunately I'm going with a friend who managed to book), so I'd probably get Donmar membership for another very popular show like that. Maybe others if I wasn't able to get tickets easily or there were other incentives. Previously I've had NT and RSC memberships, but I've not had difficulty getting NT tickets in the last couple of years, and the RSC doesn't do enough to warrant membership now.

A non-theatre one I have is Art Fund, which is good if you go to a lot of the paid exhibitions at Tate, British Museum, V&A, etc as they're generally half price.

I have quite a few:

RSC which I've had for over 30 years as I lived in Birmingham at the time and went to Stratford regularly.

RNT as I moved to London and always went as often as I could - although not so much under Rufus Norris.

Donmar as I'd never otherwise get tickets. Although I declined Macbeth tickets last week as there weren't any decent ones left, I ended up getting a discounted seat as a companion through my friend's disabled membership.

Almeida otherwise I couldn't get decent seats.

Royal Court although I haven't been for about 2-3 years due to COVID and then due to programming that hasn't excited me.

Menier as I like to get good seats and I also get free programmes. I used to get a bar discount but that's sadly ended.

ATG due to no booking fees, I can easily get to Richmond and Wimbledon and I go to Brighton a lot. I travel in the UK frequently and there are many regional ATG theatres. Also I get 20% discount at the bar up to half an hour before the performance starts which is a bonus.

I also get a free Old Vic membership as I live in the Lambeth area. This gives me a discount at the bar and discount on tickets Monday to Friday. And it costs me my favourite price!

Not do much a membership but Southwark Playhouse do a PAYG scheme which is now £75 for 5 tickets and you can use when you want. It's a massive saving.

Storyhouse - £4/month. 20% off, no booking fee, and presales. Supports an incredible 'local' venture too.

I also have Orange Tree as it’s my ( relatively) local theatre. Haven’t actually managed to go that much recently however but kind of view it almost as my charitable giving as want to support a local theatre. I’m a supporter of New Diorama for similar reasons, even though it’s a trek but I think it’s a great theatre doing interesting stuff.

I have ATG as it ends up worth it for the booking fees (Partic if the kids go to a few things), then Donmar and the National. I used to be a friend of ROH when I went to a lot of ballet as it was worth it for the standing tickets and early access to the cheap/good view, rehearsals and masterclasses but let that lapse a few years ago when I couldn’t get to as much stuff.

The other one I ummed about was the Hammersmith Lyric as again relatively local and doing good stuff.

I’m a member of the Lowry in Salford which has paid for itself with the 2 for 1 tickets on opening nights.

I am also a NT Young Patron and have a ATG card

I was a keen the other palace member with its early access, free programme for all in house main productions and discounts in the bar Etc however with the never ending run of Heathers it’s just not worthwhile at the moment.

Just to say that the Donmar has changed its membership levels obviously in the hope of raising more dosh. There is a huge gap between levels , with £500 then £1800plus. This is to my mind off putting but I suppose they did the research. They offer comps at the higher levels but is this enough?

Currently Orange Tree, Finborough and Jermyn Street, partly because they are deserving causes. I was a member at NT and RSC for decades but now there is no point as they have lots of money already and there are no worthwhile member benefits for me, you can always get tickets through normal booking. I've been a member on and off at the Donmar, Almeida and Young Vic several times, tactically to get priority booking when there's a few plays in the season I want to see but actually I've never failed to get tickets there during normal public booking.

I'm a member of a few local theatres mainly as a means of support as I'm not normally organised enough to book far enough in advance to make use of exclusive booking periods.
Two that I think are worth mentioning are Leicester Curve that due that rare thing of a much cheaper single membership where you only get a discount on 1 ticket which suits me fine.
The national theatre do a combined national theatre at home and in person membership which I have but don't make as much use of as I should.

Thinking of getting the Theatrecard Classic ATG membership to give me a better chance of decent seats for Sunset Boulevard when it goes on sale. As someone who only tends to go to ATG venues in the West End rather than regionally, would you guys say it’s worth it? Thanks in advance!