NT 2016

[Deleted]

Feb 10, 2016 17:17:46 GMT @abby said:

My email from the NT today said that they are going to start charging £2.50 for phone bookings. Have always admired the fact that the NT doesn't charge people to buy tickets from them, feels to me like a very bad and miserly decision.

Free to book online

Honestly the NT website is so excellent who needs to call them?

And secondly no fees for priority and above

[lynette]

I usually phone NT to book because I make a list of what I want from the booklet. I'm not good at hopping about on pages on a website and on the phone I can ask about different seats.

[rumbledoll]

Parsley, you're back  Yeah, that's right. The initial email said just "Members" without defining which ones.

I personally bother with Advance Membership because thus I can get 15 pound tickets for anything I want to see and on the days I can make which are few. If I were to live in London, I would just show up when they become available nearer to the date.

[peggs]

Feb 10, 2016 20:15:38 GMT rumbledoll said:

Parsley, you're back  Yeah, that's right. The initial email said just "Members" without defining which ones.

I personally bother with Advance Membership because thus I can get 15 pound tickets for anything I want to see and on the days I can make which are few. If I were to live in London, I would just show up when they become available nearer to the date.

You still find that possible Rumbledoll? I used to have advance for that reason but increasingly found all the £15 tickets were gone by then and yes I know that is not what membership is supposed to be about but that is why I had it. 

[rumbledoll]

Peggs, yes, still do. Maybe I just got lucky recently and got my trips a bit later in the run when everybody else has already booked for earlier dates. From my experience the first month of the run is harder to get tickets to then the rest of it. And obviously I try to book as soon as tickets go on sale (within an hour).
The only problem I can recall was Ballyturk in September 2014.. But I guess it's only because it was on for less than 2 months and already had reviews and all (being at Galway the same summer).

[Polly1]

Is 'The Plough and the Stars' in this next booking period?

[charliec]

So I have an NT Entry Pass membership that expires at the end of May. anyone know if I can book Entry Pass tickets for show dates after my membership expires?

I sure am going to miss getting all my NT tickets for £5!!

[peggs]

Feb 10, 2016 21:20:31 GMT rumbledoll said:

Peggs, yes, still do. Maybe I just got lucky recently and got my trips a bit later in the run when everybody else has already booked for earlier dates. From my experience the first month of the run is harder to get tickets to then the rest of it. And obviously I try to book as soon as tickets go on sale (within an hour).
The only problem I can recall was Ballyturk in September 2014.. But I guess it's only because it was on for less than 2 months and already had reviews and all (being at Galway the same summer).

Interesting, thanks Rumbledoll.

[rumbledoll]

Peggs, just remembered that Man & Superman was a hot ticket as well! And I agree it's becoming harder with each passing year but still better than a choice of tickets you usually have when public booking opens.
Let's see how it's gonna turn out this time

[Deleted]

Feb 10, 2016 17:39:27 GMT @theatremonkey said:

Feb 10, 2016 17:30:40 GMT @parsley said:

Honestly the NT website is so excellent who needs to call them?

Plenty of people who either don't use or dislike using the internet. Amazingly high numbers, going on the figures I have. Particularly given the National has a loyal older audience who are statistically less likely to buy online too, and the fact they do get state money to reach everyone (and are rather vocal about trying to do just that), it seems pretty disingenuous to start discriminating - even indirectly - by doing this.

Indeed - personally I love online booking, and the great boon of the digital age for me has been the massive reduction in the need to actually talk to people; but for some people, often older, using tech is not second nature and they want to talk to someone. And in spite of popular opinion here, many older people who would like to go to the theatre aren't rolling in money (eg my mum). Adding an extra couple of quid to the cost of a ticket that already feels like a major cost could easily dissuade a lot of people from buying. 

It just feels mean-spirited; I've really admired the NT previously for not imposing booking fees and compared them very favourably to the SB Centre, Barbican, etc - I think there's no excuse for subsidised orgs to do this, and would make it a condition of Arts Council funding if it were up to me.

I'd have more sympathy if it were genuinely to do with swingeing Govt cuts and not because there's a hole in their finances from not selling many tickets over the past nine months. Arts Council funding is actually pretty secure currently - but it needs to be partnered with decent long-term financial management and getting audiences in.

[Snciole]

I also have an advance membership and agree with Rumbledoll. I live in London, I mostly go to the theatre alone so flexible with dates/booking in advance and the advance memberships means I am guaranteed a Travelex ticket and if I am flexible with dates/where I sit £15 general sale tickets aren't impossible.

I just think £80 is too much when the NT programme hasn't been that impressive recently but I may change to that when my membership comes up for renewal in December.

[Deleted]

The concerning thing is if you are, say, a visually impaired person who cannot use computers so rely on the telephone for booking, then it sort of works out that they are directly financially penalising people with a disability. I hope that if there are people affected in this way then they are the sort of person who will kick up a stink, for an individual-basis-fee-waiver if not necessarily a full-on policy change. If the box office don't consider waiving this booking fee for people who really have no choice, then it could prove sticky for the NT in the long run, if one bears accessibility and discrimination issues in mind.

[Deleted]

A visually impaired person who cannot use computers will save much more than £2.50 by not paying for broadband or computer hardware.

[Deleted]

Feb 11, 2016 10:36:23 GMT @honouredguest said:

A visually impaired person who cannot use computers will save much more than £2.50 by not paying for broadband or computer hardware.

True, true - maybe they should pay double for the ticket, then, and also contribute a bit more tax, the lucky bastards.

[Deleted]

Yep, never mind that I can get to the NT and back for under a tenner, and some of these hypothetical visually impaired people are going to have to take taxis. And I don't have to make any special adjustments to my house to save me from injury, and I don't have a dog to buy food for, but they're clearly WAY better off because they don't have a computer. Sure.

[Deleted]

Yes, their costs associated with booking are much lower so they can afford a telephone booking surcharge. It's long overdue really.

[DuchessConstance]

To be fair if you have a disability you can get any ticket, even the most expensive seats in the house, for £16 (plus another for the same price for a companion).

[Deleted]

There is such a thing as a screen reader, you know. Totally blind people can use the Internet too.

In my last job I was responsible for making sure our software could be used by the blind, so I had to sit there with headphones and my monitor switched off navigating my way around. Difficult, but possible. A result of this is that I have no patience for people who think - and I use that word quite inaccurately - that spelling doesn't matter on the Internet. Using a screen reader is no easy task at the best of times, and it's an order of magnitude harder when you have to work back from what you hear to a conjectured spelling and then from that to what the word probably should have been.

[kathryn]

Yes, I was just about to say that with screen-readers and braile keyboards and displays the internet has really opened up a world of communication and accessibility to visually-impaired people. They're probably more likely to book online than phone up, actually - it's quicker to screenread a webpage than have a human being repeat all the information on one, and while you're there you may as well book your tickets.

In fact we were told by the RNIB lady who presented to us that smartphones are the preferred bit of tech, rather than computers, and that apple products are especially good because they all come with voiceover ability by default - no need to buy any special software. Not sure if Android have caught up yet -that was about 5 years ago.

[stefy69]

The Deep Blue Sea opens on 8th June
The Plough and the Stars opens on 27th July

[rumbledoll]

Brochure already, Stefy? *rushes to NT webpage*

[stefy69]

Feb 17, 2016 12:01:45 GMT rumbledoll said:

Brochure already, Stefy? *rushes to NT webpage*

No not till tomorrow it was on the Londontheatre website but now has disappeared I imagine they released it early and have now realised their mistake !

Online brochure tomorrow, hooray ! 

[lynette]

Got mine.....serious diary planning afoot.

[Deleted]

The starting dates have definitely been available for a little while, I keep a very detailed calendar of plays I'm thinking about booking and I had those dates already in there. End (or pseudo-end) dates would be good though, if anyone has any tips?

[rumbledoll]

Would love to know closing date (preferably the REAL one) for Theepenny & Chekhov..