DO you love the theatre, gigs and stand-up but the prices make you wince?
You don’t need to spend a fortune though – as there are bags of secret loopholes and clever hacks to experience all sorts of culture, from Shakespearean plays to comedy gigs and arena concerts for virtually nothing.
Before you know it, you could be gushing to your mates about the “must-see” West End musical or cool band you saw – and you don’t even have to bankrupt yourself. Here’s how to get the best deals…
TodayTix
This app lets people book highly discounted last-minute tickets to West End and off-West End shows.
It operates worldwide, so if you are on holiday in New York you could pick up a Broadway bargain, too.
Our reporter saw the hit play The Book of Mormon for a knockdown price in the Big Apple, booking in the morning, and it was problem-free. But we’ve also taken advantage of their “rush tickets” and “digital lotteries”.
Rush tickets go on sale inside the app on the day, usually at 10am, and get you seats for a fraction of the price – typically £25 to £30.
Shows including The Devil Wears Prada and Harry Potter and the Cursed Child are included among the options.
Lottery tickets are picked from a pool – the most famous example is Hamilton, which usually sells out months in advance. People can “win” them for as little as £10.
Our reporter won £10 lottery tickets to see Orlando Bloom get his kit off in Killer Joe in the West End in 2018 via TodayTix – so it really works!
SeatFillers UK
This connects slow-filling productions and gigs with eager audience members… it’s win-win.
Called ‘papering’, it’s a technique theatre producers use to fill empty seats and create buzz.
However, while the app is free and used nationwide – you submit your county and where else you might like to watch things – we can’t actually tell you what could come up for grabs.
Because some audience members will have paid full price for tickets, you’re strictly forbidden from shouting out: “I’ve got a freebie!” so discretion is a must.
Central Tickets
If you can be discreet, then Central Tickets will be perfect for you. Like SeatFillers UK, it’s free to join and it works on the same principle.
You get tickets to gigs, the opera, dance, shows and comedy shows for between £4 and £15. It’s got a 4.9 out of 5 Trustpilot rating with more than 3,000 reviews.
The cash goes towards an admin fee – but they also raise money for NHS Charities Together.
The Audience Club
This costs £5 a year – or is free if you’re a Blue Light Card or Defence Privilege Card holder.
It’s largely London-based, but is perfect if you live in or near the capital or regularly visit and love the arts.
You can browse hundreds of shows, including West End ones. But it also offers quirky, niche plays – great if you love branching out a bit!
ShowFilmFirst
Founded in 2001, don’t let the name fool you – this isn’t just a movie seat-filler platform; they also offer theatre, comedy, music and days out.
Happily, it’s free to join and it’s not just London. You can find offers as far afield as Manchester, Birmingham, Bath, Cardiff, Glasgow, Edinburgh, Liverpool, Leeds, Bristol, Belfast, Nottingham, Brighton, Southampton and even more.
There’s only one catch – afterwards you have to fill out a quick survey… but that’s nothing for a free experience!
My Box Office
You can either choose a lifetime membership for £12.99 or an annual membership for £5. Once signed up, you’re offered seats through papering – usually paying an admin fee of around £1 to £5 per show.
They deliver access to more than 42,000 events, from burlesque to cabaret and even sports.
Tickets For Good
This initiative requires a small booking fee but gives free tickets to major events for NHS staff, contractors, students, teachers, education staff and charity staff.
It also gives tickets to volunteers and people associated with The Ticket Bank – those who might face barriers that make it trickier to access live events, for example, unpaid carers.
It operates across the UK, so people might see anything from West End musicals to stand-up comedy, and UK music festivals to live sporting events.
National Theatre Concessions
London’s National Theatre offers £10 tickets to 16–25-year-olds – and you don’t have to live in the capital. You can book online.
Additionally, every Friday the theatre issues a limited number of “friday rush” tickets for the subsequent week – even for sold-out shows!
With actors like Jodie Comer, Andrew Garfield, Benedict Cumberbatch, Jonny Lee Miller, Judi Dench, Ian McKellen, Andrew Scott and Hugh Jackman having trod the boards there, bargain tickets are a win.
Royal Shakespeare Company
If you’re Midlands-based, then a trip to Shakespeare’s birthplace, Stratford-upon-Avon, might be in order.
The RSC offers £10 tickets for 14–25-year-olds for shows performed there.
The discount is available on its website here. Not Bard going!
Festival ballots and free tickets
Live near a major UK festival? Then check if they run residents’ lotteries for free shows or heavily discounted tickets.
Our reporter snagged free tickets to see Skepta and The Streets thanks to a lotto win in Crystal Palace, London, and bagged cheap tickets to see Blondie, Iggy Pop and Noel Gallagher for the same reason.
But similar schemes exist if you live close in other parts of London, Sheffield, Winchester, Oxon, Dorset and Bucks.
You can similarly volunteer at many festivals and receive free tickets.
Occasionally this offer is emailed directly to local residents, as with above, but bigger charities also offer it for events like Glastonbury.
Writer Becky Pemberton told how her friend watched Glastonbury in 2022 for free, having volunteered.
Meanwhile, she enjoyed the event too as she helped out at a toasted cheese sandwich stand which she found out about through “word of mouth”.
She said: “I worked on a cheese toasty stand and got a free ticket for Glastonbury in 2022 (plus fed during shifts!).
“I did it by Pyramid Stage and saw Billie Eilish and Diana Ross. My friend also volunteered for the charity WaterAid and got in for free too. We’d meet up after our shifts and danced the night away into the early hours without having paid a penny!”
Visit WaterAid here and Oxfam here.
Sit in the audience at massive BBC shows like Strictly
This is all done by a random draw – but you might get lucky!
From Strictly to Bookclub, there are loads on offer and they come up all the time. Crucially, they take place all over the UK, with shows being filmed in Glasgow, Edinburgh, Cardiff, Leeds, London and Margate.
If you fancy your luck visit the Beeb’s site here.