19,776 posts
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Post by BurlyBeaR on Mar 14, 2016 23:17:17 GMT
"That'll be £2.50 please Sir"
Yes, that's the going rate at the Palace or Opera House in Manc. £2.50 for an item that costs 89p literally 20 yards across the road at Sainsburys.
What is it at yours?
What is the most expensive theatre water in the UK?
Feel free to tell us about other products of course. Ices, jelly babies, a gin and tonic perhaps? but a bottle of water is our benchmark.
Over to you....
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Post by Deleted on Mar 15, 2016 6:45:12 GMT
I always buy water before getting to the theatre and if I run out I've got quite shameless about refilling the bottle from the free water available on the bar (if there is any). If the bar staff look too scary I fill a glass and use that to fill the bottle  Top marks go to the Globe for the water fountain statue, and the National for the new chilled water tap they've installed on the refurbished Lyttleton bar. On a similar note once when the Young Vic wasn't selling ice cream before an interval-free show, I went across the road to Sainsbury's who sell identical tubs of ice cream for (I think) £1.50 rather than £3.50 |
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3,575 posts
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Post by showgirl on Mar 15, 2016 6:53:09 GMT
I too always take my own water and food; it just annoys me that if I need to refill the water bottle, some theatres have taps which say the water is unsuitable for drinking. So yes, top marks to those venues which do provide free drinking water, e.g. the Park.
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4,156 posts
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Post by kathryn on Mar 15, 2016 9:10:20 GMT
I try to take my own water in, but have been caught out a time or two. Most recently at the Garick, which had its own branding on the label. Doubtless so you can't say you could get the exact same product for 58p in Tesco.
If I have to buy expensive water I always ask for ice and a slice with it,to make me feel slightly like I'm getting a proper drink for that much money.
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543 posts
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Post by freckles on Mar 15, 2016 13:38:40 GMT
Don't most theatres have a jug of tap water on the bar for you to help yourself?
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19,776 posts
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Post by BurlyBeaR on Mar 15, 2016 14:07:33 GMT
Don't most theatres have a jug of tap water on the bar for you to help yourself? Never seen that, although I often but my water from the kiosk instead of a bar. Ice creams in manchester are £4. The margin on those little beggars must be huge. |
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Post by Deleted on Mar 15, 2016 14:10:43 GMT
I've never had a problem with asking for tap water. Apart from the comments of "Oh, look, it's a poor person. How very Dickensian."
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Post by Deleted on Mar 15, 2016 14:27:00 GMT
Don't most theatres have a jug of tap water on the bar for you to help yourself? I usually make a bee-line for it, not having paid for a drink in a theatre bar for a long while now (the last couple of glasses of wine cost around £13 a couple of years back). If I can't see the tap water at the bar I call out rather loudly, "Excuse me, where is the tap water?" This gets the bar staff all flustered and they stop serving the paying punters to run and get me a couple of plastic cups from the sink behind the bar! |
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Post by Phantom of London on Mar 15, 2016 16:01:23 GMT
Which every theatre in New York has a water fountain.
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423 posts
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Post by schuttep on Mar 15, 2016 16:01:33 GMT
Bars are required, by law, to provide tap water free of charge - even to those buying nothing. I assume theatre bars are not exempted...
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7,176 posts
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Post by Jon on Mar 15, 2016 16:24:47 GMT
Could a bar technically charge for ice if you asked for it with the free tap water?
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Post by Deleted on Mar 15, 2016 16:52:42 GMT
Could a bar technically charge for ice if you asked for it with the free tap water? They're offering free tap water. If it's only free when molten then they should have been more specific. |
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4,156 posts
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Post by kathryn on Mar 15, 2016 21:48:59 GMT
Don't most theatres have a jug of tap water on the bar for you to help yourself? Most do, not all - and sometimes you don't actually have time to get to the main bar and are at a glorified kiosk up in the gods. Back when I was a student I would always ask for tap water as I absolutely could not afford to buy mineral water; one time the 'barman' (really an usher) very apologetically told me he didn't actually have a tap, it was bottled or nothing, so I ended up taking an ice cube to suck on instead. To be honest a bottle is more practical than a cup of tap water if I need to take it back to my seat for the second act in case of coughing fits. I'm always worried about spills from an open cup. |
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4,369 posts
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Post by Michael on Mar 15, 2016 22:41:16 GMT
Currently at the Wintergarden Theatre and a couple next to me bought two bottles of water (0.33l) from an usher - for $5 each! What a rip-off.
I always bring my own drinks with me; usually get a Diet Coke or Pepsi from a nearby Tesco or Sainsbury.
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240 posts
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Post by Anniek on Mar 16, 2016 11:04:59 GMT
I always have a bottle of water in my bag, never had problems with it.
When i'm going with friends/family we always have drinks at the theatre, but a lot of times I go alone, I sometimes bring a small bottle of wine myself and just ask for a plastic cup.
I wouldn't say i'm a cheapskate, but 7-8 quid for a small glass of wine in some theatres? + a very expensive ticket.. Then you just ask for it.
Im not sure how it works with revenues, and I understand a theatre needs to sell drinks etc, but some prices are outrageous!
And although i'm not going to try it, half of the 'no drinking water' stickers, I don't believe are true.
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Post by Anniek on Mar 16, 2016 11:18:25 GMT
hahaha, ew. Like I said, i'm not gonna try it, but I assumed it was just connected to the main waternetwork.
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19,776 posts
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Post by BurlyBeaR on Mar 16, 2016 12:20:31 GMT
half of the 'no drinking water' stickers, I don't believe are true. I wonder too, but given that most British plumbing relies on a "header tank" where mains water is stored until used in the bathrooms, and given where header tanks are, and that they are not often covered, and the state of roofs in general and where pigeons, rats and other London wildlife like to get a drink / doze / expire... HUUUUUUUUUUP!  |
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Post by peggs on Mar 16, 2016 12:39:32 GMT
The National (Lyttleton bar, as mentioned, end near the Theatre Avenue windows) has a fiendish automatic thingy, that you think isn't going to work, then whirs loudly and delivers about a gallon into your tiny plastic cup. Since this arrived I've been known to factor a visit there into my London trips just to fill up on free water and hit the toilets, somehow I'd rather hike an extra mile than pay for water, it makes me feel that money spent on theatre etc. is therefore okay. |
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Post by DuchessConstance on Mar 16, 2016 17:46:59 GMT
half of the 'no drinking water' stickers, I don't believe are true. I wonder too, but given that most British plumbing relies on a "header tank" where mains water is stored until used in the bathrooms, and given where header tanks are, and that they are not often covered, and the state of roofs in general and where pigeons, rats and other London wildlife like to get a drink / doze / expire... Pig-e-on? How they get up there? "Oink" flapflap. "Oink" flapflap. |
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