Theatres refusing to sell single seats

My partner and I will often take two single seats if the only available doubles are poor value or poorer view/comfort. We're taking seats off the theatre's hands that they sometimes wouldn't sell, especially in the provinces, which don't have so many solo theatregoers as the West End.

Maybe theatres should be incentivising the hoovering up of singles when there are a lot of them left? Say a free programme for splitting a booking?

LW Theatres also massively reduced the cost of singles for the Palladium Panto.

I've found the customer service at Curve to be consistently poor ever since they opened. I could cite numerous examples.

One was when I took out a standard membership once they had reopened after the first Covid lockdown. A benefit was 20% off at the bar and café. One month later they reduced it to 10% and applied it not just to new memberships but to existing ones too. In the financial world, this would be mis-selling. They also cancelled the next six months of shows and would not extend memberships. They also withdrew 2-for-1 nights from standard members that was supposed to be another benefit.

Some of the email replies I had when I complained about the 27C temperature in the stalls following their decision to refit with as many seats as possible would properly be termed gaslighting.

"You cannot leave an empty seat" is a somewhat ironic warning given the fact that in many circumstances by preventing me from booking this seat, I will in fact be leaving this seat unsold ergo empty.

I can usually manage to fudge it by booking the other seat in a different window or via a booking system that doesn't have the restriction, but on the odd occasion I haven't been able to do it, I'd rather just not go. No, I won't take one of the scattered single seats at the back of the stalls when there are seats front of circle that you just don't want to sell me. I want the best view available, and if the seat is free and I'm not allowed to buy it just because I happen to be visiting alone, well, I have other places to spend my money.

The problem I have with the 'reasonable alternative' thing is that I don't want an 'alternative', I want the best seat available. I'm 5'2" - I don't want to sit 'further back'. Why should my choice of seats be limited because I'm going alone? The seat is there, just let me buy it!

I've even arrived at the theatre once or twice to find them trying to move me on the night for the convenience of someone else. I don't mind if it's an actual equivalent - for example I was once asked to move from my aisle seat on one side of the theatre, to the same aisle seat at the other end of the row - but no, I won't move further back or into a worse seat. It's the same as a plane, really - an upgrade, or equivalent, or I stay put.

Threads merged.

There's a rule that can't be broken /
and the pain goes on and on /
Empty chairs that aren't a couple /
Can't remain /
Singles begonnnnnnnnnnne

I know this has been discussed before, but I cannot find the thread with the info.

How does one get around booking one single seat from 2 together when the system will not allow an empty seat to be left behind?

Many thanks for any help.

Thank you for the info.

Apologies for not finding that thread, thanks for linking it.

I guess admin can delete this

 I've never tried contacting the theatre but I have had success reserving one of the two seats from a third party seller - usually at a higher than the box office price - and then buying the other seat at the standard price.   I always use google incognito on my PC rather than just another window. However the last time I tried the trick it didn't work.

 ATG and LW Theatres do often allow a one from two purchase - and sometimes discount remaining single seats on or before the day.