Cumberbatch’s Hamlet: Don’t Panic! & FAQ

So the big moment is almost here: In a couple of weeks we will be able too book tickets to see the actor we adore in a role he’s been preparing for for ages. Of course we are all desperate to be part of this once in a life time opportunity. And we are here to tell you that you will be able to be part of it. As long as you are prepared to be flexible, getting tickets for Hamlet will not be the problem. Nevertheless, it is natural to be a bit nervous when it comes to the process of acquiring tickets. Because there’s thousands of us. And some of us might even want to see the show more than once. This post is an attempt to give you some insider information about the booking process and put your minds at ease. I have enlisted the help of several chicken agents who are seasoned theatre goers and know  A LOT about buying theatre tickets. Together we will try to answer your most pressing questions. The following post by my friend Theatre Chick covers some of  the most important point related to booking tickets for Hamlet. Then we’ll give you a comprehensive FAQ with questions you lot have been asking on Twitter. Please don’t hesitate to add more questions in the comments or Tweet them to us @WATBenedict. We will then add them to this FAQ.

But now for some advice from Theatre Chick:

Don’t Panic!

Theatre tickets for Hamlet may seem like an impossible feat at the moment but with the right information and a bit of planning, you are sure to get what you want.

Lets start with the big things.

The Venue

The Barbican is big. Like, really big. It is one of the biggest venues in London and it was a very smart idea that they chose to have Hamlet there because it means nearly 1,200 tickets are available for each show where as most West End venues only hold between 600 and 800. This means nearly double the amount of tickets are up for grabs and we all know there will be a lot of demand.

The Best Seats

If you have never been to the Barbican, it’s best to check out Theatre Monkey’s website and their seating plan on ithttp://www.theatremonkey.com/BARBICANMAINstalls.htm

Note that Red doesn’t not necessarily mean bad view, it could be that they are just not worth the money or have less legroom in some peoples opinion.

Having been there myself, I will actually say that being at the front is actually not better. The first 4 rows you are basically looking at their feet so avoid them if you can, I know the temptation to be so close you can see the sweat is very appealing but if you want to have a clear view of the stage it is best to be 6 or 8 rows back as they do rake up and that is when you will be eye level with Benedict himself.

The Memberships

Depending on your Membership status depends when you can buy tickets. It may seem very cheeky that the venue force you to buy into their membership schemes but the Barbican themselves don’t actually get much money from this show and this is how they can claw as much revenue as possible with it being a high profile show.

If you want to become a member so you get early access, you MUST do it before the on sale dates. The Barbican have been clear about this and it is because they are obviously preparing to be completely free to sell as much Hamlet as possible on the days.

Red Memberships – tickets on sale Fri 1stAug @ 10am online and over the phone. £100 a year. Usually Red members get 4 tickets at a discounted rate but this has not be confirmed so I doubt it will happen.

Orange Memberships – tickets on sale Mon 4th Aug @ 10am online and over the phone. £40 a year.

Yellow Memberships/General Public – tickets on sale to everyone on Mon 11th Aug @ 10am online, over the phone and in person.

 

Deciding which member you want to be

I have worked in theatre for over 5 years and with high profile shows like this, you need to ask yourself one question. Do you want to go on any of these days:

Opening Night. Closing Night. Friday or Saturday Night? If the answer is Yes, then I would suggest Red as these are very very popular nights and you will have to be quick to guarantee a ticket.

If the answer is No then Orange will be perfectly fine.

If you are totally flexible, not fussed about sitting close or just buying 1 ticket then General On Sale will be fine for you.

But my word is not gospel, I do not work for this venue, if you want peace of mind, buy an Membership.

Booking!

Get a cup of tea and take the day off work! This will be stressful no matter what so just accept it. It’s best to be as prepared as possible though and while you should expect the worst, it is highly unlikely you will not get tickets.

If you are a member you will be able to book online on www.hamlet.barbican.org.uk or over the phone on 020 7638 8891 on the day.  I would recommend doing it online as they only have a certain number of people on the phones. But get familiar with the Barbicans website and how to navigate around booking a ticket. Try and do a test booking for a current production and cancel it before you enter card details, just so you can see what information you need and the layout of the seating plan and you will then have an account with them ready to go on the day.

The Barbican use a ticketing system called ENTA. It is a reliable system but will undoubtedly crash on the on sale days. If it has crashed for you, it has also crashed for the Barbican Box Office as well so do not bombard them with calls. As soon as it is working again for them, it will work online as well. If you are not bothered about certain seats I would actually recommend waiting a few hours before trying to book tickets, all the initial mayhem will had subsided and it is much less stressful.

As some people may know, ATG Tickets will have a very small amount of tickets going on Priority sale to people who signed up as interested on their website (this sign up period has now ended) When I say small, I mean small. The Barbican have over 1000 seats and ATG will be given an allocation of around 6 per show. And they will be around half way back in the Stall so do not hold out much hope for this. You do not have to be a Barbican Member (Red/Orange/Yellow) to buy these, but they will be gone before you even know it. If you do want to try for these though, please do a test booking for a show on their website www.atgtickets.com as well just so you can learn how their website works as well.

Access Tickets

Now this is where issues start. People with certain access requirements might find the Barbicans policy hard to get what they need.

Only paying customers will be able to buy tickets during the priority booking period. Access customers do not get to book early unless you are a member.

First of all you need to register as an Access Customer with The Barbican, this means filling out a form on their website and they will give you a customer number. You MUST do this before the on sale days as you need to already be on their database when booking the tickets. You can find the form here:http://www.barbican.org.uk/visitor-information/disability-access/membership

Wheelchair users – There are 4 Wheelchair spaces in the Theatre. There are located in 2 boxes either side that hold2 wheelchairs in each. While there is no guarantee that there will be some available when general on sale happens, they are insisting you have to buy a membership to guarantee these tickets.

(Cumberchicken: According to Theatre Monkey, the wheelchair seats in Upper Circle might provide better views than the ones at the back of Stalls!)

Visually and Hearing Impaired Customers – There will be no seats held for VI or Hearing Impaired customers so to be as close to the stage as you need to be, again they are insisting you have to buy a membership to guarantee this.

Please note not all theatre companies work this way and many allow access customer to book at the same time as Members so they are not discriminating against their needs.

FAQ

The Barbican has also just added an official FAQ here. 

What do I do if I am ill on the night I’ll have tickets for?

At the moment it looks as though all you can do is, as normal at the Barbican, return the tickets for a credit note.  This is only if there is more than 24 hours before performance.  If it is less than that they will attempt to re-sell them for you.  For the ‘things can happen’ problem, I ALWAYS collect tickets on the day.  It may feel reassuring to have them in hand, but if you have a confirmation you should be absolutely fine.  All theatres require the physical tickets back for a refund or resale.  If you have never taken them, that makes things much much easier if you can’t attend. If you do return them for a credit note, there will be a £2.50 per ticket charge.  You will be unlikely to be able to exchange tickets for ‘Hamlet’, I would imagine, if it sells out. I think it will.  There is also a six month limit on using these notes.  More information here: http://www.barbican.org.uk/eticketing/conditions-of-sale

What are my chances of getting a ticket without membership?

If you are flexible in dates then I have no doubt you will get a ticket without a membership on the 14th. They may just not be the best seats.

When do I need to be online to book from overseas? The booking opens @ 10am GMT on the respective days mentioned above. This includes online booking and phone lines. There are many good time zone converters online, why not try this one? And here’s a helpful little illustration:   What if Benedict is ill on the night we go?

The Barbican has the policy that they do not do refunds or exchanges because of performer illness. But Benedict is a professional and with him not doing stage door he will be able to keep his energy and health in check.

The online booking worries me. I’m not that tech savvy.

Do a test run! Pretend you want to buy a ticket for a currently on sale show so you can learn how their website works. It’s also good to know what date and time and how many tickets you want so you know exactly what you are after. There is nothing worse than seeing a huge page of dates and not knowing where to start.

What if the site crashes?

It almost certainly will. The best thing to do is stay calm. The system they use is a hugely used ticketing system called ENTA and they will be able to fix whatever goes wrong but it can take time. Do not madly tweet or call the Barbican, they will definetly know it’s crashed as it’s a ‘Live System’ so if it crashes for us, it will crash for them as well, this also means no one will be able to get tickets so don’t panic! We will all be in the same boat. Let them focus on fixing it and keep refreshing every five minutes or so. Clicking refresh every second will actually make it worse and overwhelm their system.

Screencap major points of your booking, and definitely the shopping basket in case you need to make a complaint.  Unfortunately, if it crashes we just have to ride it out. Pick up the phone, get skype ready to go from overseas before the time in question.  I’ve spent up to six hours trying to book for events before now.  It is frustrating.  Keep calm and remember that no play is worth your blood pressure. Honestly.

What is the refund/return policy? It’s still one year away and things can happen!

That is true, and they will be sympathetic within reason (for example family grievances) but they do have a no refunds or exchanges policy. So do not but 6 tickets for a date without knowing you are able to actually get there as there is no guarentee they will refund them. But if this is the case, contact the Barbican Box Office as soon as you are aware of any issues, do not leave it to the day.

When do I need to be online?

As long as you are logged in before 10am on the day of on sale, you will be ready.

Will there be a online / phone queue?

Yes. While the phone queue is numbered, the online queue is randomly placed so you can click at exactly the same time as someone else and they get number 100 while you get 2. This cannot be changed as it is how they filter customers on their servers. While the phone queue sounds better, it is not! While there may be 10 people answering phone calls, in that time thousands of people will be filtered into the website from their queue. Only call if you have problems as you are really skimming your chances that route.

Do I need to register on the site in advance? 

Yes. But if you have a membership this will already be done when you purchase the membership. If you are not a member then it is best to pre-register your details and practice ordering some tickets but canceling before payment.

Do I need to enter my payment details in advance?

No. However, we would suggest that international purchaser call the credit card company of the card they want to use, to tell them that they are planning to make an overseas purchase. Otherwise the bank can put a fraud alert on the card when the purchase is made. I can’t count the times I had to call my credit card company because they panicked about purchases I made in LONDON and then proceeded to put a hold on my card. And that was within Europe.

I would also suggest having your long card number on copy and paste for speed and accuracy. Sometimes there’s a ticketing adrenaline hit and shaking fingers are horrible.

Does the membership name need to match ticket name?

Yes. This is how they make sure you are the membership holder and not using someone else.

Are Passports valid form of ID for ticket verification?

Yes. Passports, drivers licence, proof of age cards are all valid forms of ID.

What are the prices? Do Members get a discounted rate? 

Prices are yet to be confirmed but I know Sonia Friedman prices and will be set into four or so price ranges.

Top Price (sometimes called Premium) – £70 – £90

Second Price (sometimes called Band A) – £55 – £65

Third Price (sometimes called Band B) – £35 – £50

I highly doubt there will be tickets cheaper the £35, even restricted view seats. These prices are all just educated guesses and not official, but it will give you an idea of price structures.

Will it be too late to book tickets next year , i’m afraid they’ll be sold out and i’m 50 % sure I’ll go to see it ?

I think tickets will pop up every now and again, and I honestly don’t think it will sell out 100% in the first few weeks. They hold some back for VIPs, company, house seats and they all get release closer to the time if not needed but there’s no ‘set date’. These are then called ‘returns’ as they might hold 10 for Benedict each day and he mighty not want them everyday so the usually get released the day before or on the day so it’s always worth checking online constantly for a particular day you want as they will randomly get some.

Written by Cumberchicken on 20 July 2014. 4 comments »
Category: Theatre, Various
Tags: Advice, Booking, FAQ, Hamlet, Theatre