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

Ways to save in advance

Cheap Tickets (£15/£18) are available for most performances, including for our West End productions. 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.

£20 Friday Rush

Every Friday at 1pm, a limited number of £20 Friday Rush tickets are released online for each of the following week’s performances, excluding West End productions. These are limited to 2 per customer, per production

£15 Travelex Tickets

Each year, a number of our Olivier and Lyttelton productions are discounted as part of our Travelex Season. Hundreds of seats are available for every Travelex performance at £15. This year’s Travelex productions are detailed on the Travelex page.

Ways to save on the day

Day Tickets

For Olivier, Lyttelton and Dorfman productions, a limited number of day tickets are available in person at 9.30am from the Ground Floor Box Office.They are priced at £15 or £18, are limited to two per customer and may offer a restricted view. For popular productions, queues may start early outside the main National Theatre entrance.

Once all other tickets have been sold, £5 Standing Tickets may be available for some of our productions on the day of the performance. Standing ticket holders stand at the back of the circle where there are clear views but there is nothing to lean against.

NB Olivier and Lyttelton productions play in repertory and do not perform every day. Please check What's On for performance schedules.

Standby Tickets

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 £15 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.

Entry Pass is a free membership scheme for anyone aged 16-25.

For every performance, a limited number of £7.50 Entry Pass tickets are available in advance.

Entry Pass members can also bring a friend aged 16-25 for just £10.

Visit the Entry Pass pages to join and for more information.

If you still have unanswered questions, please contact us

We can exchange tickets to another performance date or for a Credit Voucher which can be used to pay for future ticket bookings with the National Theatre, as long as you contact us 24 hours before your perfomance. If you have already collected your tickets or we have posted them to you, you will also need to return your tickets to the Box Office at least 24 hours before the performance date (7 days for group bookings). There is an administration fee of £2 per ticket.

Exchanging tickets to another performance date
To arrange a ticket exchange to another performance date, please call the Box Office on 020 7452 3000 (+ 44 20 7452 3000 if dialing from outside the UK).

Exchanging tickets for a Credit Voucher

• If your performance takes place within the next 7 days and you would like to exchange your tickets for a Credit Voucher , please call the Box Office on 020 7452 3000.
• If your performance takes place over 7 days from now and you would like to exchange your tickets for a Credit Voucher, use this request form.

If you are unable to return the ticket(s) to the Box Office at least 24 hours before the performance, we may be able to resell them on the day of the performacne 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. We can also transfer tickets to a friend or relative if you can find someone else to use them.

To put tickets up for resale, or to transfer them into a different name, please contact the Box Office here or by calling 020 7452 3000

National Theatre tickets are non-refundable. We can, however, exchange your tickets for a Credit Voucher as long as the tickets are returned at least 24 hours before the performance (except for Monday shows, when tickets must be returned at least 48 hours before). For group bookings tickets must be returned at least 7 days before the performance. There is an administration fee of £2 per ticket.

• If your performance takes place within the next 7 days and you would like to exchange your tickets for a Credit Voucher, please call the Box Office on 020 7452 3000.
• If your performance takes place over 7 days from now and you would like to exchange your tickets for a Credit Voucher, use this request form.
   

If you are unable to return your tickets to the Box Office at least 24 hours before the performance, 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. We can also transfer tickets to a friend or relative if you can find someone else to use them.

To put tickets up for resale, or to transfer them into a different name, please contact the Box Office here or by calling 020 7452 3000.

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.

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 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.

National Theatre Gift and Credit Vouchers do not have an expiry date.

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

If you still have unanswered questions, please contact us

From the What's On page, you can search for performances by venue, date and price using the search bar at the top of the page:

• You can search for productions at the National Theatre or in the West End.
• You can search for performances today, this week, this month or use the calendar button to search in a specific date range.
• You can search for performances with tickets under £20, under £40 or under £60 to suit your budget.

Once you've searched, you can choose to filter the results for matinee or evening performances, by specific production, or by the lowest price available on the left-hand panel.

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 three other possible ways to secure tickets for sold out performances:

1. Friday Rush

£20 Friday Rush tickets for all Olivier, Lyttelton and Dorfman Theatre shows  are released online every Friday at 1pm for each of the following week’s performances and are limited to 2 per customer. [url]

2. Day Tickets

Day Tickets are available from 9.30am in person at the National Theatre Box Office for Olivier, Lyttelton and Dorfman performances. Day Tickets are priced at £15 or £18, are limited to 2 to per customer and may offer a restricted view. Queues often start before 9.30am for popular shows.

Standing Tickets: In the Olivier and Lyttelton Theatres, on the day and once all other tickets have sold, tickets will be made available for standing spaces at the rear of the circle. Standing tickets cost £5 and can be booked in person or by phone. 2 per customer.

3. Customer Returns for Sold Out Shows

There is also a chance of tickets being returned to us for re-sale just before the perfomance starts by customers who are no longer able to attend. Queues for these possible late returns will start at the relevant Box Office or ticket desk from 90 minutes before the start of the show. If any tickets do become available, we will limit them to 2 per customer.

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.

For Olivier and Lyttelton performances, discounted educational group tickets are usually available for Monday - Thursday performances during term-time.

For Dorfman performances, discounts are available on Monday and Tuesday evenings during term-time..

There are a limited number of discounted tickets available for each performance and discounts do not apply during school holidays.
 

Group bookings can by made through the Box Office. You can call the Groups line on 020 7452 3010 or contact the Box Office here.

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

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

Subject to availability, reduced price tickets may be available for Students, Theatre Union members and Unemployed Patrons from 45 minutes before a performance starts.

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 Travelex productions (Macbeth, Julie, Translations, Exit the King) and any tickets under £30.

Senior Citizens save on midweek matinees:

• For Olivier and Lyttelton productions, £52 and £39 tickets are reduced by £20.
• For Travelex productions, tickets priced at £35 or over are reduced by £10
• 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 Olivier, Lyttelton and Dorfman productions, £16 ticket + one companion ticket at the same price.
• For Travelex productions, £15 ticket + one companion ticket at the same price.

Groups

Discounts are available for Educational and Adult Groups. These vary by production and can be booked through the Box Office who can be contacted on 020 7452 3010 or by using this form.

The following discounts are available for Access List customers. To join for free, please see the National Theatre Access List page in the Access section of our website.

• For Olivier, Lyttelton and Dorfman productions, £16 ticket + one companion ticket at the same price.
• For Travelex productions, £15 ticket + one companion ticket at the same price.

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 phone on 020 7452 3000.

NB There is no concession on £15 seats.

The following discounts are available for 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 Travelex productions (e.g. Macbeth) and any tickets under £30.
• For Pinocchio, half-price tickets are available for all performances. Excludes 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.

Please note that bookings containing tickets for under-18s cannot be posted out and will be available for collection at the box office from 90 minutes before the performance.

Senior Citizens save on midweek matinees:

• For Olivier and Lyttelton productions, save £20 on £52 and £39 tickets.
• For Travelex productions, save £10 on £45 and £40 tickets.
• For Dorfman productions, £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 9 tickets per performance per customer online but adult group bookings can be made through the Box Office for Absolute Hell.

See the question,  Do you offer a group booking discount above, for details of group ticket prices and links to the Group discounts request forms.

You can contact the Box Office here or call the Groups line on 020 7452 3010. Discounts are available for selected performances:

School/educational bookings can be made via request forms on this website, listed below.

• UK Schools online booking form for shows at the National Theatre
• UK Schools online booking form for National Theatre shows in the West End
• UK Colleges booking form
• Non-UK Education Group booking form

Alternatively you can call the Groups line on 020 7452 3010.

We do not offer a student discount in advance, but if a show is not sold out we can offer a student standby rate of £15 in person from 45 minutes before the start of a performance, subject to availability.

You will need to provide proof of full-time student status, such as an NUS or college/university ID card. Student standby tickets cannot be booked online or by phone.

If you still have unanswered questions, please contact us

Day tickets are a way of getting last minute tickets on the day of the performance for Olivier, Lyttelton and Dorfman Theatre productions.

For Olivier, Lyttelton and Dorfman productions in the National Theatre, a limited number of day tickets are available in person from the Ground Floor Box Office when the National Theatre building opens at 9.30am*.They are priced at £15 or £18, are limited to two per customer and may offer a restricted view. For popular productions, queues may start early outside the main National Theatre entrance.

PLEASE NOTE: Day Tickets are not transferable. While Day Tickets must be purchased in person from the Box Office on the morning of the performance, tickets will then be held for collection from 30 minutes before the start of the show and you must show the card you paid with or photo ID for collection.

*Building opening times vary on Bank Holidays and you can check the times when Day Tickets will be released for sale here.

NB Olivier and Lyttelton productions play in repertory and do not perform every day. Please check What's On for performance schedules before you come along to queue for Day Tickets.

Performances at the National Theatre

Day Tickets for Olivier, Lyttelton and Dorfman Theatre perfomances are available in person from 9.30am* at the Box Office in the main entrance of the National Theatre building.
*Building opening times vary on Bank Holidays and you can check the times when Day Tickets will be released for sale here.

For popular shows, the queue for Day Tickets often starts before 9.30am outside the main entrance to the National Theatre. We can never predict when the queue will begin for a particular show but you can contact the Box Office to find out when the queue has started on previous days.

PLEASE NOTE: Day Tickets are not transferable. While Day Tickets must be purchased in person from the Box Office on the morning of the performance, tickets will then be held for collection from 30 minutes before the start of the show and you must show the card you paid with or photo ID for collection.

Day Tickets are £15 for Monday - Thursday evenings and all matinee performances, and £18 for Friday and Saturday evenings.

Day Tickets for all Travelex sponsored performances are £15.

NB Olivier and Lyttelton productions play in repertory and do not perform every day. Please check What's On for performance schedules before you come along to queue for Day Tickets.

Day Tickets are limited to two per customer.

PLEASE NOTE: Day Tickets are not transferable. While Day Tickets must be purchased in person from the Box Office on the morning of the performance, tickets will then be held for collection from 30 minutes before the start of the show and you must show the card you paid with or photo ID for collection..

If you still have unanswered questions, please contact us

Our Friday Rush scheme offers cheaper tickets for Olivier, Lyttleton, and Dorfman productions closer to the day of the performance.

Every Friday at 1pm, a limited number of £20 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. They can only be collected from the Box Office on the day of the performance from 90 minutes before the start of the show and you will have to show the card you paid with on collection.

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

PLEASE NOTE: Friday Rush tickets are not transferable. They can only be collected from the Box Office on the day of the performance from 90 minutes before the start of the show and you will have to show the card you paid with on collection.

If you still have unanswered questions, please contact us

Entry Pass is a free membership scheme for anyone aged 16-25.

For every performance, a limited number of £7.50 Entry Pass tickets are available in advance.

Entry Pass members can also bring a friend aged 16-25 for just £10.

Visit the Entry Pass pages to join and for more information.

To become a member of Entry Pass you must be aged 16-25 and sign up for the scheme. Please note, your Entry Pass membership will be activated the day after you sign up. You will need to bring photo ID to collect your Entry Pass tickets.

Benefits of being a member include:

• Access to exclusive workshops and events
• Access to £7.50 tickets
• Backstage Tours are £5 for Entry Pass members
• 10% discount in the NT Bookshop (discount only valid instore)
• 10% discount for all National Theatre bars and restaurants (not including alcoholic drinks. Alcohol will only be served to over-18s)
• 15% discount for Costume and Prop Hire (offer not valid in conjunction with any other discount)

Entry Pass Terms and Conditions

Log in to your National Theatre account to see what tickets are available. Entry Pass tickets are £7.50 for members and you can bring a friend aged 16-25 for just £10. One Entry Pass ticket and one 'Mate's Rate' ticket can be purchased per member. The number of Entry Pass tickets available per performance is limited, so book early to avoid missing out. Alternatively you can buy over the phone by calling 020 7452 3000 ( a £2.50 transaction fee applies to phone bookings).

Once you've booked, you can collect your tickets from the Box Office on the day of the performance. Tickets must be collected at least 30 minutes before the start of the performance. You (and your friend, if collecting a 'Mate's Rate' ticket) should present photo ID, showing your age, when you collect.

If you still have unanswered questions, please contact us

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 £2.50 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 3000.

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.

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

Discounts are available for adult groups of 8+ on selected performances.

Group prices for shows at the National Theatre

For Pinocchio, Amadeus and Absolute Hell the following discounts are available for Monday - Friday evenings and all matinees (excludes preview performances):

8-11 people: £2 off the 2nd and 3rd prices

12-19 people: £4 off the 2nd and 3rd prices

20+ people: £6 off the 2nd and 3rd prices, plus 1 free ticket for the group organiser.

For shows at the National Theatre use our Group Booking form here, or contact the Box Office on 020 7452 3010.
 

School and College group discounts are detailed here

Discounts are available on a limited allocation of tickets for educational groups of 10+ for many of our productions. For details, see the related questions in the Schools Group Booking section above.

Bookings are limited to 9 tickets per performance per customer online but adult group bookings can be made through the Box Office for Absolute Hell.

See the question,  Do you offer a group booking discount above, for details of group ticket prices and links to the Group discounts request forms.

You can contact the Box Office here or call the Groups line on 020 7452 3010. Discounts are available for selected performances:

Private tours are available by arrangement. To book a private tour please email tours@nationaltheatre.org.uk.

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.

Educational group discounts are available for many of our shows:

For productions at the National Theatre

For Olivier and Lyttelton performances, Monday - Thursday (Pinocchio, Amadeus, Absolute Hell and Macbeth performances from 14 May - 23 June), and for Dorfman performances on Mondays and Tuesdays (John, Nine Night and The Great Wave), the following discounts are available during term-time:

• £12 tickets for UK-based groups of 10+ students aged 18 or younger, plus 1 teacher at the same price per 9 pupils.
• £15 tickets for UK-based groups of 10+ students aged 19-25, plus 1 teacher at the same price per 9 pupils.
• £20 tickets for Non-UK-based groups of 10+ students aged 25 or younger, plus 1 teacher at the same price per 9 pupils. (£15 for Travelex productions)

NB For Network, all performances are now sold out.

School/educational bookings for shows at the National Theatre can be made via request forms listed below, or by calling the Groups line on 020 7452 3010.

• UK Schools online booking form for shows at the National Theatre
• UK Colleges booking form
• Non-UK Education Group booking form

School/educational bookings can be made via request forms on this website, listed below.

• UK Schools online booking form for shows at the National Theatre
• UK Schools online booking form for National Theatre shows in the West End
• UK Colleges booking form
• Non-UK Education Group booking form

Alternatively you can call the Groups line on 020 7452 3010.

For Olivier and Lyttelton performances, discounted educational group tickets are usually available for Monday - Thursday performances during term-time.

For Dorfman performances, discounts are available on Monday and Tuesday evenings during term-time..

There are a limited number of discounted tickets available for each performance and discounts do not apply during school holidays.
 

Group bookings can by made through the Box Office. You can call the Groups line on 020 7452 3010 or contact the Box Office here.

Group tours can be arranged by emailing tours@nationaltheatre.org.uk.

For more information, please see the Tours section of our website.

If you are purchasing tickets for someone else, we advise that you have the tickets posted to you so that you can pass them on ahead of the performance.

If this is not possible then please contact the box office to arrange for the tickets to be transferred into a different name.

Tickets can be posted out or held for collection at the box office. Postage is charged at £1 (£1.50 for groups or large orders).

Please note that tickets for different performances may be dispatched at different times, even if booked together.

Tickets may not be dispatched immediately but will always be sent in good time ahead of the performance.

Performances at the National Theatre

• If you booked through the National Theatre - online, by phone, or in person - your tickets are available for collection at the Box Office at any time the building is open (Monday-Saturday, 9.30am-11pm).
• If you booked through another agent, your tickets will be available for collection 90 minutes before the performance from the relevant Box Office.

Performances in the West End

• Before the day of the performance, your tickets will be available for collection from the National Theatre Box Office on the South Bank at any time the building is open (Monday-Saturday, 9.30am-11pm).
• On the day of the performance, you will be able to collect from the Box Office at the appropriate theatres from 90 minutes before the performance

If your tickets have not arrived by the day of the performance, you may collect duplicate tickets by presenting the payment card and/or the confirmation email at the box office.

If you have purchased tickets for someone else, please contact the box office to transfer the tickets into their name.

Ticket collection kiosks are available throughout the National Theatre foyers.

To collect your tickets from a kiosk, you will need your payment card and order reference number.

If you are collecting duplicate tickets, Entry Pass tickets or tickets booked through another agent, please visit the Box Office to pick up your tickets.

If you still have unanswered questions, please contact us

Understudies are cast for all Olivier and Lyttelton theatre shows.