Nottingham Theatre Royal

Built in 1865, the Theatre Royal in Nottingham is one of Nottingham’s busiest theatres, regularly hosting touring productions. The site was extended in the 1980s with the Royal Concert Hall, a venue that often sees live music performances from a range of bands and orchestras, as well as musicals.

Seating: The Theatre Royal seats 1,100 people across four tiers – the stalls, dress circle, upper circle and balcony. The stalls and dress circle will often have the most expensive seating. The best views of the stage are from the centre of the front rows of the dress circle, although leg room is a bit restricted. Sitting on the far left or far right of these rows will offer better leg room, but a restricted view. For the best experience (view and leg room), I would recommend seats in the stalls, although they can sometimes be pricey!

The Royal Concert Hall seats 2,250 people across stalls, tier 1 and tier 2. The unique acoustics within the Concert Hall means that you will likely have a different experience depending on where you sit in the auditorium – the sound is thrown around the space in different ways, but usually sitting in the centre of the auditorium will provide you with the best experience. This is a much more modern venue than its next door neighbour, so no need to worry about leg room here!

Parking: The nearest car park is the Crown Plaza Car Park (less than five minute walk away) but it can also be expensive. Upper Parliament Street car park is cheaper, but the spaces are quite tight! If you are happy to catch public transport, I would recommend parking at the Forest Recreation Ground and catching the tram to Royal Centre, which works out cheaper, is a 5 minute tram journey and drops you off pretty much at the door!

Special offers: If you have a ticket for a show at the Theatre Royal or Royal Concert Hall, you can get discounted pre-show meals at nearby restaurants – check this site for current offers. You can also use your ticket to get discounted parking at Q Park (although it is still fairly expensive in my opinion!)

See my latest reviews for productions at the Theatre Royal and Royal Concert Hall in Nottingham