Criterion Theatre

"A 10 and 11: "The 39 Steps," (Rebecca). I'm 4ft 11 and I have seen it twice now from row A, seats 10 and 11: It requires some looking up, but I really enjoy the close proximity of the actors, and getting to see every bit of subtlety in their comedic performances. I found leg room here to be average. The seats are a little uncomfortable, but as a comedy the show is shorter than most musicals, so it's less noticeable."

"A15: "The Comedy About A Bank Robbery" (May 2016). Sold relatively cheaply, this is a great seat. Looking slightly upward, as is expected, but within reason. Except for a few moments here and there clear view of everything. Legroom is quite good (I'm 6'2''), even slouching in the seat my knees had plenty of space."

"A16: OK, it’s very close to the action – but it was great!"

"B4: "Two Strangers (Carry a Cake Across New York)" (April 2024), (K). This seat has nothing in front of it, so can fully stretch your legs out. The staging for this show means you can basically see everything apart from the back corners of the stage - but the rotating staging means you'll see everything eventually.
There's also a speaker right in front of you, meaning you can hear everything clearly - so it's worth the little neck ache you might get from having to look up and left the whole time."

"B5: "The Comedy About A Bank Robbery" (February 2016). Tonight confirmed my view that if you're doing restricted view, high numbers are much better than low. Definitely missed more from B5 than from my usual B22."

"B 5 and 6: Permanently cheaper because of the restricted view. Sitting in the seats and looking directly forward you are looking at a wall; seat 6 is where the wall ends so that was the better seat. In seat 5 I couldn’t see about 10% of the action, and at the scene in the hotel lobby which is at the far right of the stage I could hardly see anything. I could see the stagehand, though. Seat 6 had no such problem. Some of the action also takes back at the far right back of the stage which is impossible to see from seat 5.

The saving grace is that row A ends at seat 5 so seat 5, 4 and 3 have acres of leg room, albeit with a side view. For 90% of the show though the view is superb, and well worth the £22.50 instead of £47.50 ticket price when we saw it (August 2010). The theatremonkey seating plan is slightly wrong as seat B4 has no seat in front of it (not wrong, just unable to show it for technical reasons - editor). With the seat colour, carpet and wall paint I always feel like I’m sitting in some one’s lounge at the Criterion! (The monkey raised the rating of B6 for view, and left the rest 'fair value' for comfort reasons if nothing else).

"B22: "The Comedy About A Bank Robbery" (February 2016). I don't understand why B22 isn't coloured green when the rest of the seats along that edge are. I'm practically resident in B22!" (because seats further back have a better angle, feels the monkey).

“B22 and 23, “2:22 A Ghost Story” (October 2022), (Bob Pickett). Loads of legroom, comfortable enough… but they’re past the side of the stage. This close, you lose a chunk of the left (as you look at it). At a discounted price they’re worth it (for 2:22 most action takes part centre stage so it wasn’t too much of an issue - thankfully clocks were mounted both sides), but be aware you’re losing part of the stage and do look across.  B22 gets a marginally better view.”

"Row C: neck-ache!"

"C3: "The Comedy about a Bank Robbery" (March 2016).My daughter had this seat, and rates it good value at £11. It was high enough that she could see all the stage, including the actors' feet (she is 5'1"), the legroom was superb (half the seat has nothing in front of it), and the restricted view was slight to moderate. She said that there were a couple of visual gags that she didn't get, but overall she was very happy with the seat for this price."

"C9 and 10: "Unbelievable" (September 2023). We were second row Stalls (C 9-10) and in hindsight a bit on show, so I would have preferred to be further back as also some of the close up magic tricks were slightly blocked by cameras or the cast. They did have screens but they were at an awkward angle for us to look at. I think further back there would be a better overview of the stage and the screens."

"C13: "Close to You" (January 2016). An excellent seat, with good leg room and perfect view of the stage, bang in the centre. Rows A and B are a bit close, whereas C is far enough back to avoid neck ache."

"C22: Although this was not a bad seat, I felt that it was difficult to see the actors when they were standing at the edge of the stage. It was not so much a restricted view, but instead a poor view. As this was a full price seat it offered poor value for money and would be best avoided in my opinion."

“D2: “Two Strangers (Carry A Cake Across New York)” (April 2024), (Broadway John). Right side of stage is a restricted view but don't miss much for this production. Great to be so close to the cast. I did have to look to the left the whole time to see the stage which got uncomfortable after a while."

"E3: The seat was awful. There is no rake, meaning that if a tall person, or a person with a very dodgy hair-do sits in front of you - you've had it. This meant that I missed much of the first act, as I couldn't see the performance clearly, and also without the people behind poking me saying that I was blocking their view!. In the interval, I spoke to an usher, and they kindly let me sit in the Dress Circle - which again had lots of pillars in view, but was much better than my stalls seat."

"E11: (Tom). I got this at a reduced price. This is a small, pretty theatre and E11 is an excellent seat. I wouldn't like to sit further forward as it's a rather 'shouty' performance. There is almost no rake at the front and the seats aren't staggered here so someone tall in the row in front would cause a problem. The seats also seem to be strangely noisy, and if half a dozen people choose to re-settle at the same time it is a bit distracting! By London standards the seats and leg room are reasonable."

"E 16: (Jon B). My seat in the stalls was fine with a good close view of the stage and reasonable leg room. There's very little rake on the stalls so you could be unlucky if someone tall sits in front of you."

"E17: (Jackie, Devon). There was plenty of leg room, however, the rake in the stalls was appalling. The view was obscured by the people in the row in front which was annoying."

"E18 and 19: gave a good view of the stage and provided adequate legroom."

"E24: "The Unfriend" (February 2023). I bought stalls E24 for £21 which was bargain. The only comment is the stalls are very low even 10 rows back - so if paying more you may find large people block your view of the stage, being very low down; unlike other theatres which have an incline."

"Row F: Centre. this view was just fine as I had an unblocked view of the stage and was able to enjoy the play."

"F6 and 7: were good seats, with a good view of the stage and with sufficient room even for me at over 6 ft."

"F8: "Pride and Prejudice (sort of)" (November 2021). Pretty good seats. Heads in front will be in the way because there is no rake at this point but the stage is high enough that it’s not too much of a problem (and being able to see the actors’ expressions outweighs the occasional leaning). Leg room a bit tight if you have longer legs, and seats are a bit narrow - I kept bumping my neighbour despite neither of us using the arm rest. I got a discount for this ticket but probably wouldn’t pay full price. P.S. two thumbs up for their drinks ordering system!"

"F17 and 18: at £22.50 each with no booking fee. Perfect seats with a full view of the stage."

"Row G: next time I would definitely choose the dress circle. The rake of the stalls is non-existent and being of fairly average height, I found it hard to make out some of the tap dancing etc at the production I saw."

"G3 and 4: "The Way Old Friends Do" (August 2023), (Bob Pickett). In Criterion terms, these are pretty good seats.  Close enough to see every facial expression, though you do lose a little of the right side of the stage.  The seats themselves are quite comfortable.  Legroom is - like most Criterion seats - less than desirable.  The lack of both rake and stagger mean you’re playing ‘Criterion Lottery’ hoping no-one tall sits in front of you.  On the plus side, at least these seats are nowhere near a pillar!"

"H 1 and 2 and J 1 and 2. "The Comedy about a Bank Robbery" (March 2016). It did feel a little odd going down into the theatre, but that was partly because it was so crowded arriving, with nowhere to linger. The tiled walls were also oddly reminiscent of a tube station or a Victorian toilet! The theatre itself was fine, although the Circle overhang was a little disconcerting. No sign of tubes rattling by!. J2 is directly next to a large pillar so those two seats are a little pair to themselves, which was cute, and pleased Tall Daughter. Leg room was fine. Those seats at the end are under the side overhang of the Circle, which didn’t block the stage view (there is some business right at the top of the stage) but did make it feel a little enclosed. 

Behind was an individual seat alone with space all round it, because of that pillar - no one was sitting there and that meant wriggling from side to side to see the stage was easier. The seats weren’t staggered but the side angle to the stage meant a pretty good view between heads - my husband and Tall Son, in fact - with a bit of dodging from side to side. (I was in J1, TD was in J2 and saw fine.) You can’t really lean back in your seat and see as well, and you miss a little of the action on the far right of the stage but not enough to matter and for the price, they were good value. 

As TM said, though, higher numbers aisle seats might give you a better all round view with this particular play. And also, as the toilets and bar are at that low numbers side of the theatre, with no centre aisle, the ENTIRE row felt they had to come through in the interval, rather than walking around the back of the theatre (and it really isn’t that big a walk!) including the obligatory last minute returner after the interval when we had finally sat down!"

"H23: "The Comedy about a Bank Robbery" (March 2016). End of row but before those dreaded columns - Thanks TM for the suggestions. Missed nothing, would rather be here for this production than the other side where you would miss window scenes, and I was less obscured than end of rows in front of me. Paid usual 'partially restricted view' £33 ticket price and was happy with that. I am 6'4" though so that helped with the flat rake. Agree with others - it is a loud performance so would not want to be too far forward."

"J 7 to 9: (JS). Fab seats, lots of legroom even for tall people. Would highly recommend. You could see perfectly and we were nowhere near the pillars."

"J18: "The Comedy About a Bank Robbery" (March 2016). Great seat."

"Row K: My seats were great - central to the stage about 10 rows back. I was a little worried as I'm rather short, but the view was okay as long as a giant wasn't sitting in front of me."

"K 6 and 7: "The Way Old Friends Do" (August 2023). Beautiful theatre, loved the glass name sign, the tiled corridors and the actual auditorium itself with the chandelier ceiling. Seats had a great view. Toilets very clean and more cubicles than the average London theatre."

"K 12 and 13. (B). Good seats, dead centre; a perfect view of everything. The Criterion Theatre is marvellous, but there are seats I wouldn’t want to sit in. Best to check which ones have restricted views before purchasing them."

"K21: "The Unfriend" (January 2023). The Criterion is a really quirky theatre. Completely underground, you have to walk down to the gods! And K21 in the stalls is even quirkier. On the aisle of the stalls right next to the biggest pillar I've ever seen in a theatre. But as it's to the side. It's fine and there are no seats either side as the one to the right would have no view at all. It might obscure a tiny bit of the left hand side if they are at the back of the stage but it was great for this."

“K21: “The Unfriend” (February 2023), (Broadway John). Fantastic seat. Pillar not an issue. Good legroom. Thanks, TM, for the recommendation!”

"Row M: (Jackie Bassom). Seats in row M gave a comfy view."

"M11 and 12: It's a very small and cramped auditorium. We were wedged into M11 and 12 which were dead centre of the row towards the back. It seems that there is no rake, but the seats were staggered - which helped, as I had to look between two very large heads. The seats were pretty comfy, it has to be said, but partly because once you were in them there was no way you were moving again. It was almost like I was vacuum packed."

"Row N: "The Comedy about a Bank Robbery" (March 2016). We sat just to the left of centre. The leg room wasn't bad for my 6' husband, and the view wasn't bad at all, considering the shallow rake."

"P11: "Two Strangers (Carry a Cake Across New York)" (April 2024). P11 was good! Decent legroom because you’re next to a pillar rather than another person (although people next to me were struggling). Rake is shallow but seats are staggered so 5 foot me didn’t struggle at all to see between two tall-ish, broad-ish people in front. It’s a small theatre so it doesn’t feel far from the action. Recommended."

"R15 and 16: "Pride & Prejudice (sort of)" (November 2021), (Bob Pickett). These are marked 'restricted view' and rightly so, with a pillar in front. It's only a thin pillar and I honestly forgot all about it after a while.  If you were in the seat in front (Q15 or 16 I'm guessing) it would be another thing altogether as it would be right in front of your face.  Seats are nice and wide, legroom is good... but make sure you get up during the interval.  As the second half progressed I was fidgeting more and more until finding a comfortable position."