Tickets can only be booked online, and are available up to 2 hours before a performance for shows taking place at the National Theatre. 
Ticket sales for venues other than the National Theatre close on the morning of the performance.

Unfortunately, tickets are no longer available in person, and only Access tickets may be booked over the phone on 0207 452 3961. 

All tickets must be purchased in advance and will be delivered via email as an e-ticket, which can be printed at home if you prefer.  

This process will streamline audiences’ entry to the theatre, minimise the amount of time you may have to queue, and reduce contact with our Front of House team.

For performances taking place at the National Theatre, each group of up to 4 people must be part of your household or support bubble, and we ask that the group organiser be responsible for communicating our safety measures to the full group. 

For The Ocean at the End of the Lane we anticipate by October 2021 that it will be safe to have standard seating without social distancing at the Duke of York's Theatre. In the event that this is not the case, such that the production has to be cancelled, the NT will follow its refund and exchange policy for all tickets purchased via the NT.

We have physically distanced seating, grouped in households or support bubbles of 1-4 people, to protect both audiences and the live theatre experience.

Grouped tickets are seated together and will be distanced from other groups in the auditorium. To allow social distancing we have significantly reduced the overall capacity but we have tried to make a wide range of ticket groups available in different areas of the auditorium.  

Under Milk Wood
Individuals can book up to 9 tickets for this production. £20 tickets are limited to 2 per booker.

After Life
Due to very limited seating availability in the Dorfman Theatre as a result of social distancing, tickets at all prices are limited to 2 per booker.

To minimise queuing and maintain social distancing, we ask that you and your group arrive at the theatre at the time slot listed on your pre-show email. 

Once you have arrived, our team will guide you through a socially distanced one-way route to your seats in the auditorium. Rest assured our large, well-ventilated foyer spaces will give you lots of room to move around. 

Should you or a member of your group be late for your arrival time, please do still come as quickly as possible so our team can help you access the building as safely as possible. Unfortunately, arriving less than 15 minutes before your performance starts may result in our refusing entry, and we cannot allow access for people that arrive after their performance start time.

As part of remodelling the Olivier theatre as an in-the-round performance space, the front rows of the Stalls have been built as socially distanced bench seating. While these seats do not have arm rests, they have allocated seats, back-rests and are cushioned.

The health and safety of our audiences is incredibly important. 

You are therefore able to exchange tickets up to 24 hours before your performance – so if someone in your party feels ill, there’s no need to worry. 

• Go to My Events (you will be prompted to login if you are not already) and select the performance, and you will find a link to a return for credit voucher form that will auto-populate your order details.

Click here to read our full ticketing Terms and Conditions.  

Please remember, it is important that you do not attend the theatre if you: 

• believe you may be infected with COVID-19 
• have experienced symptoms in the last 14 days 
• have been in close proximity to anyone who has experienced symptoms in the last 14 days 
• have arrived in England in the last 14 days from a country where UK quarantine restrictions apply 
• have been instructed to self-isolate

We encourage anyone in your group that is clinically vulnerable, or who is in the same household or support bubble as someone who considers themselves vulnerable, to make their own assessment whether they should attend. 

Yes, all returned tickets will be made available online at their original face value, and can be booked online up to 2 hours before the performance.    

Our Friday Rush scheme will still offer cheaper tickets closer to the performance: at 1pm every Friday, a limited number of £10 tickets for the following week's performances are released to buy online. 

However, we have unfortunately had to stop all in person Day Tickets until further notice. 

Yes, all 16-18 year-olds can access tickets for £5 and 19-25 year-olds can access tickets for £10 (max. 2 tickets per show) subject to availability.

Please remember to prepare photo ID, showing your age, when you arrive. 

Booking for these tickets opens at midday on Thursday 29 April. Click here for more information 

Yes, all over 60s can save on midweek matinees with £20 off £66 tickets for Under Milk Wood. 

For After Life, higher priced tickets are reduced to £30.

Credit vouchers and NT Gift Vouchers can be redeemed on your order summary page once your tickets have been added to your basket. You will simply need to type the voucher number, including the hyphen, into the system and click “Apply Voucher”. The value of the voucher will then be deducted from your order. 

We are pleased to accept Theatre Tokens (issued by the Society of London Theatre) and these can be redeemed over the phone on 0207 452 3961. 

Unfortunately, we cannot accept gift vouchers or gift cards issued by other third parties such as ticket agents. Please refer to the voucher issuer for details about redeeming these vouchers. 

If you are having trouble redeeming your credit voucher or NT Gift Card, please contact [email protected]  

Unfortunately, the Ashcroft Room Private Members Bar has been closed until further notice to help us facilitate social distancing.  

You are able to pre-order refreshments when you book your tickets, on our app or via the Development team, and will be available to collect on the way to your seats. 

We do not offer refunds.

If your performance takes place over 24 hours from now and you would like to exchange your tickets for a Credit Voucher:

• Go to My Events (you will be prompted to login if you are not already)
• Click the 'See details' button to select the performance, and you will find a link to a 'Return for credit voucher' form that will auto-populate your order details
• Add your name and submit the form
• You will be sent an email with details of a new credit voucher for the value of your tickets, or Box Office will contact you if your request cannot be processed automatically.

Please note the form referenced above can be used up to 24 hours before the performance start time. If you wish to return or exchange your tickets less than 24 hours before the performance start time, please contact the Box Office on [email protected]

We can exchange tickets for a later performance or for credit to use on future bookings as long as we are notified at least 24 hours before the performance (48 hours for venues outside of the main National Theatre building, 7 days for group bookings). To exchange tickets for a different performance, there is an administration fee of £2 per ticket.

If you are unable to notify the Box Office in time, we may be able to resell them on your behalf once we have sold all our own tickets. Even for popular shows, we cannot guarantee resale but, if we are able to, we can refund you minus an administration fee of £2 per ticket.

To exchange you tickets for a different performance, please reply to your confirmation email with details of the performance you wish to change to. Alternatively, email [email protected] ​with your name, address and phone number and the new performance details.

Exchanges are subject to availability.

If you still have unanswered questions, please contact us

There are a number of ways to find low price tickets for our productions, both before and on the day of the performance.

Ways to save in advance

Low price Tickets (£20) are available for all performances at the National Theatre. These are in high demand and may be limited to two per customer. They may offer a restricted view of the stage.

Reduced prices are also available for the first performances (Previews) for many of our shows. Details and dates can be found on the individual show pages.

£10 Friday Rush

Every Friday at 1pm, a limited number of £10 Friday Rush tickets are released online for each of the following week’s performances at the National's three theatres, and selected West End productions of National Thetare shows. These are limited to 2 per customer, per production.

Ways to save on the day

Day Tickets

Due to COVID-19 restrictions, tickets will not be available to buy in person at the theatre, so Day Tickets are not available for current productions.

For Olivier, Lyttelton and Dorfman productions, a limited number of day tickets are normally available in person at the start of the day. For details, see the Day Tickets FAQs.

Standby Tickets

Due to COVID-19 restrictions, tickets will not be available to buy in person at the theatre, so Standby Tickets are not available for current productions

Subject to availability, any remaining unsold tickets may be reduced in price close to the performance start time.

General Standby: £15 off selected tickets available for everyone from 90 minutes before the performance.

Reduced Standby: tickets at £20 available from 45 minutes before the performance in person only with ID. Available to Students, Stage Pass, SOLT, NCA, & theatre union members and the unemployed.

If you still have unanswered questions, please contact us

NT Gift and Credit Vouchers can be redeemed on the order summary page once you have added tickets to your basket. You will need to type the voucher number, including the hyphen, into the system and click “Apply Voucher”. The value of the voucher will then be deducted from your order.

Theatre Tokens (issued by the Society of London Theatre) can be used for National Theatre bookings but only by phone or in person.

Please Note: American Express Cardmember pre-sale bookings and reserved seating can only be paid for with an American Express card - NT Gift and Credit Vouchers, and Theatre Tokens, cannot be used as payment for these benefits.

We cannot accept gift vouchers or gift cards issued by other third parties such as ticket agents. Please refer to the voucher issuer for details about redeeming these vouchers.

If you are having trouble redeeming a NT Gift or Credit Voucher, please contact the Box Office.

NT Gift Vouchers can be exchanged for tickets, backstage tours and items sold as part of the online ticket buying process

If your voucher has an expiry date of March 2020 onwards, we appreciate that you will not have had much of an opportunity to make use of your voucher.
All vouchers issued with an expiry date of March 2020 onwards have now been automatically updated with a new expiry date of 31 June 2022.
You do not need to contact us to extend these vouchers as the new expiry date has already been automatically updated on our system.

If you are having trouble redeeming a voucher, please contact the box office.

If you have lost a Credit Voucher issued to you as part of a ticket exchange, the Box Office can reissue the voucher number to you.

If you have lost a Gift Voucher, the person who purchased the voucher will need to contact the Box Office to request the voucher number again.

Contact the Box Office

If your Gift Voucher value is greater than the order total, the balance will remain on your voucher for future purchases. 

You will be able to use the same voucher number repeatedly until you have used the full value and, when you receive tickets purchased with a voucher, you will receive a new copy of the voucher (with the same voucher number) displaying the remaining amount.

Theatre Tokens can be used for bookings in person or over the phone.  If you need to redeem theatre tokens, please contact the Box Office on 020 7452 3000.

We cannot accept gift vouchers or gift cards issued by any other third parties such as ticket agents. Please refer to the voucher issuer for details about redeeming these vouchers.

NT Gift Vouchers can be purchased online here, by phoning the Box Office on 020 7452 3000, or by visiting the National Theatre in person.

If you still have unanswered questions, please contact us

Reduced price tickets are available in advance on certain performances for Under 18s, Over 60s and Disabled people. If you are unsure how to book these concessions online, please see our guide to Selecting Concession Seats

Under 18s:

• For Olivier, Lyttelton and Dorfman productions, half-price tickets are available for Monday - Friday evenings and all matinees. The half-price discount excludes any tickets under £30.

Over 60s save on midweek matinees:

• For Olivier and Lyttelton productions, £66, £57 and £56 tickets are reduced by £20.
• For Dorfman productions, £30 tickets are available.

Disabled People:

Available for Access List customers. To join for free, please see the Accessibility section of our website.

• For productions at the National Theatre, £20 ticket + one companion ticket at the same price.

The following discounts are available for Under-18s:
 

• For all productions, half-price tickets are available for Monday - Friday evenings and all matinee performances. The half-price discount excludes any tickets under £30.
   

To book online using “Select your own tickets”, click on an eligible seat or seats from the seating plan to select it. You can then choose a concession price by clicking on the “Selected tickets” bar that appears above the seating plan.

Over 60s save on midweek matinees:

• For productions in the Olivier and Lyttelton Theatre, save £20 on £66, £57 and £56 tickets.
• For productions in the Dorfman Theatre, £30 tickets are available.

To book online, click on an eligible seat or seats from the seating plan to select it. You can then choose a concession price by clicking on the “Selected tickets” bar that appears above the seating plan.

Bookings are limited to 6 tickets per performance per customer online.

To request more than 6 tickets, please contact the Box Office at [email protected] 

We are reopening for live performances in June with After Life and Under Milk Wood but due to Government restrictions, tickets can only be booked in groups of 1-4, and are allocated staggered arrival times to assist with social distancing, so our usual process for booking school group tickets will not apply for this season of shows.
​If you’d like to be the first to know about later productions and changes in audience guidelines, sign up to our mailing list here. We also have a range of free educational resources available online, and we have a collection of world-class productions, available to watch via the NT Collection.

Due to COVID-19 restrictions, tickets, including Student Standby, will not be available to buy in person at the theatre.

£20 tickets will be available in advance for performances.

Returns will be made available on our website and can only be booked online.

Discounted Access tickets are available to those who have subscribed to our Access List and are priced £20 plus the same rate for a companion/carer. 

To join for free, please see the National Theatre Access List page in the Access section of our website.

Once you have completed and returned the Access List register form, we will contact you to confirm your registration and when you next log in to the website you will be able to choose the concessionary rate when selecting tickets. 

You can also book with us by calling 020 7452 3961.

If you are already a member of our Access List, and would like to contact a member of the team about your booking, please email [email protected] 

NB There is no concession on £20 seats.

If you still have unanswered questions, please contact us

Due to COVID-19 restrictions, tickets will not be available to buy in person at the theatre. Day Tickets will therefore not be available for Death of England: Delroy.

£20 tickets will be available in advance for most performances and £10 Friday Rush tickets will also be available.

If you still have unanswered questions, please contact us

Our Friday Rush scheme offers cheaper tickets for sold out shows closer to the day of the performance.

Every Friday at 1pm a limited number of £10 tickets for the following week's performances are released to buy online from our Friday Rush page.

To make the booking process as quick as possible, we recommend you register in advance. If you already have an account, have your username and password to hand.

You can buy up to two Friday Rush tickets for each production. If you have already bought two tickets for one particular production, you won't be able to buy further Friday Rush tickets for the same show in future weeks.

PLEASE NOTE: Friday Rush tickets are not transferable - if the person who has booked Friday Rush tickets is unable to attend, they should contact the Box office to ask about exchanging their tickets.

Friday Rush Tickets are not available for Talks, Platforms and other one-off events.

Friday Rush tickets are limited to 2 per person, per production. 

PLEASE NOTE: Friday Rush tickets are not transferable. 

Friday Rush Tickets are not available for Talks, Platforms and other one-off events.

If you still have unanswered questions, please contact us

E-tickets are now the only way to receive your theatre tickets.

For the e-ticket option, your tickets will be sent to you via email as a PDF attachment.

When entering the theatre, simply open the Your Mobile E-Ticket email and show your e-ticket on your phone to our Front of House team at the door, just like a regular ticket.

You can choose to print out your ticket/s if you prefer. They print out one ticket per page.

You will receive two emails after completing your order. The first NT Order Confirmation email lists the full details of your booking. The second Your Mobile E-Ticket email will include your e-tickets as a PDF attachment. Both emails will arrive on the same day as your order.

Please note: For The Ocean atthe End of the Lane, E-tickets will be emailed to bookers closer to performance.

If you have not received the Your Mobile E-Ticket email within 24 hours of placing your order, please contact the Box Office by email [email protected] with details of your order.

Due to COVID-19 restrictions, tickets cannot be posted out or held for collection at the box office.

Delivery of tickets will be by E-tickets.

Due to COVID-19 restrictions, tickets cannot be held for collection at the box office, or posted out.

Delivery of tickets will be by E-tickets.

For Your Mobile E-Tickets
If you have not received the confirmation email or Your Mobile E-Tickets email, or if you have lost the Your Mobile E-Tickets email with the e-tickets attached, please call the Box Office on 020 7452 3000 or email [email protected] with details of your order, and we will issue you with a replacement e-ticket.

E-tickets will be sent to the primary email address you have provided on your NT account (this will usually be the email address you use when logging into the NT website).

Please note, if you find the original e-tickets these will now be invalid for entry.

If you still have unanswered questions, please contact us

Due to COVID-19 restrictions, e-tickets are the only type of ticket currently available. 

This will help us streamline audiences’ entry to the theatre, minimise the amount of time you may have to queue, and reduce contact with our Front of House team.

You will receive one Your Mobile E-Ticket email which will contain a single PDF with e-tickets for all performances within your order.

Most phones and tablets will be able to open the PDF attachment without any additional software.

You will need a phone or tablet with 4G or Wifi connection, which is able to display PDF files.

You do not need to print your tickets, simply open the attachment in the Your Mobile E-Ticket email and show your e-tickets on your phone when entering the theatre.

When you enter the theatre, one of the members of our FOH team may scan the QR code on each individual ticket. Please ensure that the screen brightness is all the way up to help our scanners pick up the QR code.

Presently our e-tickets are not compatible with Apple Wallet or similar apps, but if you would like to download the e-ticket to your phone, you can do so.

If you have an iPhone, you can save your e-ticket to the iReader app. Or if you are using an Android phone, you can save it to your download files.

If you don’t have a smart phone, you can print a paper copy of the e-ticket to bring with you.

If you wish to print your e-ticket, you will need Adobe Acrobat reader version 9 or higher, and we ask that you use A4 white paper for the best results.

Due to COVID-19 restrictions, tickets cannot be posted out or held for collection at the box office.

Delivery of tickets will be by E-tickets.

You can order a maximum of nine e-tickets online for each production. For group bookings of ten or more people, please contact the Box Office.

You can forward the Your Mobile E-Ticket email with the e-tickets attached to the recipient.

However, we recommend that you purchase an NT Gift voucher from our website, which can be used by the recipient to purchase tickets for a production of their choice.

PLEASE NOTE: Friday Rush tickets are not transferable - if the person who has booked Friday Rush tickets is unable to attend, they should contact the Box office to ask about exchanging their tickets.

We will send you a new Your Mobile E-Ticket email with an attachment for your new tickets.

You should now delete the original e-ticket email from your phone. The original e-tickets are no longer valid and will not be recognised by our entry scanners.

Your smart caption glasses voucher will be sent to you in the same Your Mobile E-Ticket email as your theatre e-tickets.

These can be clearly identified by the lime green colour at the top and bottom of the voucher.

Please show this mobile voucher to our Access Assistants in the theatre foyers to collect your smart caption glasses. More detailed information is available in our smart caption glasses FAQs

We occasionally have tickets returned to us in advance by customers who are no longer able to attend their performance. It is often worthwhile checking the website for possible returns closer to the date on which you wish to attend. There are then two other possible ways to secure tickets for sold out performances:

1. Friday Rush

£10 Friday Rush tickets for all shows at the National Theatre are released online every Friday at 1pm for each of the following week’s performances and are limited to 2 per customer. 
 

2. Customer Returns for Sold Out Shows

There is also a chance of tickets being returned to us for re-sale on the day of the performance by customers who are no longer able to attend. These possible late returns will be made available for sale on our website, up to 30 minutes before the start of the performance.

All customer returns are offered for re-sale at face value – we cannot offer any reduced price on these tickets.

You can search for today's performances via our What's On page using the search function at the top of the page.

Tickets are released for new productions in one of our booking periods which occur every two to three months. Members are amongst the first to know, or Register and subscribe to the NT News regular email and we'll let you know when each new booking period opens.

If you still have unanswered questions, please contact us

American Express Cardmembers get priority booking, ahead of the general public, and exclusive access to an allocation of tickets, special events and free tickets to Backstage Tours, as well as 10% discount in the National Theatre's Bookshop.

For more information, please see the American Express pages of our website

To access American Express preferred seating allocations, you should enter the first 4 digits of your card number into the 'American Express Invites' box on the left hand side of the performance list page.

Once you have done this, you will be able to view, select and buy AMEX seats on the 'select your own seats' option (AMEX seats are coloured blue on the seating plan and labelled 'AMEX reserved seats') or buy AMEX seats via the 'best available' option.

Visit the 16 - 25 tickets page to see what tickets are available. 16 - 18 tickets are £5 and 19-25 are £10. You can book 2 tickets per show.

Are you 16 - 18? When you've chosen a performance and you click on the 16-25 year old seat, the £10 19-25 year old price is automatically selected. To select the £5 16-18 year old price, click the yellow bar to display concessions and ticket details. Then select the £5 16-18 year old price.

The number of 16 - 25 tickets available per performance is limited, so book early to avoid missing out. 

Once you've booked, you will receive E-tickets by email, which you can present on your mobile or print out and bring along. When attending the event, you (and your friend, if you have bought two 16 - 25 tickets) should present photo ID, showing your age.

If you still have unanswered questions, please contact us

Due to the restrictions put in place to manage COVID-19, we are currently unable to take group bookings.

We are reopening for live performances in June with After Life and Under Milk Wood but due to Government restrictions, tickets can only be booked in groups of 1-4, and are allocated staggered arrival times to assist with social distancing, so our usual process for booking school group tickets will not apply for this season of shows.
If you’d like to be the first to know about later productions and changes in audience guidelines, sign up to our mailing list here. We also have a range of free educational resources available online, and we have a collection of world-class productions, available to watch via the NT Collection.
 

Bookings are limited to 6 tickets per performance per customer online.

To request more than 6 tickets, please contact the Box Office at [email protected] 

If you still have unanswered questions, please contact us

We are reopening for live performances in June with After Life and Under Milk Wood but due to Government restrictions, tickets can only be booked in groups of 1-4, and are allocated staggered arrival times to assist with social distancing, so our usual process for booking school group tickets will not apply for this season of shows.
If you’d like to be the first to know about later productions and changes in audience guidelines, sign up to our mailing list here. We also have a range of free educational resources available online, and we have a collection of world-class productions, available to watch via the NT Collection.

We are reopening for live performances in June with After Life and Under Milk Wood but due to Government restrictions, tickets can only be booked in groups of 1-4, and are allocated staggered arrival times to assist with social distancing, so our usual process for booking school group tickets will not apply for this season of shows.
​If you’d like to be the first to know about later productions and changes in audience guidelines, sign up to our mailing list here. We also have a range of free educational resources available online, and we have a collection of world-class productions, available to watch via the NT Collection.

There is no booking fee for online bookings or those made in person at the National Theatre; we do, however, invite you to make a donation of 5% of your order value to help support the National Theatre's work. Every penny contributes directly towards our mission to make the very best theatre and share it with as many people as possible.

A £3 fee per transaction will be charged for all phone bookings except those made by members at Priority level or above and those made by Access List subscribers.

The National Theatre accepts American Express, Mastercard, Visa and National Theatre Gift Vouchers for ticket purchases online and by phone. To pay with 'Theatre Tokens', please call the Box Office on +44 (0)20 7452 3060.

NT Gift and Credit Vouchers can be redeemed on the order summary page once you have added tickets to your basket. You will need to type the voucher number, including the hyphen, into the system and click “Apply Voucher”. The value of the voucher will then be deducted from your order.

Theatre Tokens (issued by the Society of London Theatre) can be used for National Theatre bookings but only by phone or in person.

Please Note: American Express Cardmember pre-sale bookings and reserved seating can only be paid for with an American Express card - NT Gift and Credit Vouchers, and Theatre Tokens, cannot be used as payment for these benefits.

We cannot accept gift vouchers or gift cards issued by other third parties such as ticket agents. Please refer to the voucher issuer for details about redeeming these vouchers.

If you are having trouble redeeming a NT Gift or Credit Voucher, please contact the Box Office.

Tickets can only be paid for in British pounds (GBP). If you are using an overseas credit/debit card, your bank may apply extra conversion charges.

NT Gift Vouchers can be exchanged for tickets, backstage tours and items sold as part of the online ticket buying process

Theatre Tokens can be used for bookings in person or over the phone.  If you need to redeem theatre tokens, please contact the Box Office on 020 7452 3000.

We cannot accept gift vouchers or gift cards issued by any other third parties such as ticket agents. Please refer to the voucher issuer for details about redeeming these vouchers.

If you still have unanswered questions, please contact us

Understudies are cast for all Olivier and Lyttelton theatre shows.