Royal National Theatre., South Bank, London

The Royal National Theatre renowned for its variety of great shows. It really is a place that you can get great entertainment value. Thoroughly enjoyable all througout the year!

Great theatre that puts on lots of different shows (I really wanna see Comedy of Errors!). Great place to relax as there’s sometimes musicians, and has a nice cafe and bar. There is currently a free exhibition going on for Landscape Photographer of the Year, and it is actually breathtaking! I highly recommend it.

A great set of theatres with engaging new productions- I enjoyed Travelling Light this week- with the exception of a few GCSE level performances… but this is a rare occurance.
The range of style and genre, the opportunites for discounted/ student tickets and the constantly changing music and exhibits mean a night out at The National is always a joy.

Brilliant shows are always held at this institution. I would say my favourite theatre would be the Olivier with its rotating stage, there are no bad views in here. Before the show, do take the time to have a gander at the views across the Thames on the balcony, it is definitely a treat.

The thing about the National Theatre is that it really is an institution. It manages to produce a good programme of cutting edge thoughtful drama as well as jacobean/elizabethan plays and modern people pleasers. Over the years, I’ve seen lots of magical plays that will always stay with me. If you are considering seeing something, just go ahead and book it. Obviously it depends on the show, but generally production values are pretty high so are transported into the time and setting of your chosen place.
Just to give you context, I also go to smaller independent theatres like Arcola, Royal Court, Hampstead et.c

I came here for the Little Mermaid sing-a-long (which was great and super fun). The theater was much larger than I expected. I loved the piano / organ, loved the stage, loved the architecture…

If you have been thinking you’d like to go to the theatre more often. Do it and come here! I had the good fortune to get tickets here often a few years back and it was always brilliant. This is a British institution we can be really proud of. I used to work in theatres in the West End, but forget them. Go here! ;D

So not only does this place have the most amazing theatrical bookshop but also live jazz music in it’s vast entrance hall.

Such a variety of things to see. My favourite being Oedipus starring Ralph Fiennes. Stunning performance and gripping storyline.

Another favourite – Celebration of Pinter. A star studded cast, simple yet effectively done to remember the work of the great late Harold Pinter. And only £10! – great for a drama school student :-)

Comfy seats, good views all round, great service.

I visit the National regularly and have never been disappointed by any production here. Absolutely at the forefront of British theatre, the NT champions new work as well as old masterpieces, which keeps the range fresh at all times.

While the Lyttelton and Olivier are spectacular performance spaces (and having seen the epic two-part staging of His Dark Materials I really feel that I have seen the revolve stage put to its best use), I personally love the more intimate Cottesloe most of all, and have seen some some excellent new material here.

From farcical comedy to Greek tragedy, it's all happening in this iconic building - and you can get a really decent meal, too: check out the top level restaurant for really good pre-theatre mezze platters at a decent price, or if you want to go up-market, the Mezzanine restaurant is a brilliant dining experience and is one of my favourite in London - you don't have to be seeing a play to eat here, and it's well worth the trip.

Every so often, my mum emails me to tell me she's coming to London and has booked theatre tickets. And every so often those tickets are for a show at the Royal National Theatre. And whenever that's the case, I know I'm in for a treat.

I think I've seen two of the theatre spaces here, and they're wonderfully diverse - a big traditional theatre and a small black box space. The plays are just the same; diverse and always interesting. I don't think they've ever disappointed.

I've been coming to the National Theatre since before the Southbank got so cool and comfortable, queueing up for day seats when Trevor Nunn was still in charge. The era of Nick Hytner has fought the good fight of making the theatre ever more accessible with cheap ticket schemes and outreach work to new audiences. The theatre manages to appeal to theatre buffs and newcomers alike with a varied and interesting programme. Sign up to the regular email bulletins and take your pick.

I have no doubt that watching a performance at the National Theatre is an awesome experience. Unfortunately, because of the appalling attitude of the guy we spoke to at the Box Office, we didn't get that far. Unbelievably rude, giving inconsistent and incorrect information, and so blasé that we had to leave and not come back, I'll make sure I book my tickets online in future.

It's an amazing theatre that does a huge range of different productions of new plays and classics. Even if the show isn't to your taste, there will always be something to admire in the production because it's always done to such high standards.

The National Theatre is a London landmark worth visiting. There is always something going on here whether it's a live band in the foyer or the matinee of the latest RSC production I recommend you visit this place.

There are a number of different theatres in the one building (4 in total I think) and usually the best productions take place in the Olivier or the Lyttleton.

The tickets are really reasonable prices (compared to those of theatres in the West End) and if you are under 26 you can apply for a membership card which means all tickets are only a fiver!

A classic of "Brutalist" architecture on the Southbank, designed by Denys Lasdun, this is a stunning Grade II listed building and a wonderful place to watch both modern and contemporary theatre. Famously loathed by our very own architectural guru Prince Charles; this in itself makes it worthy of a visit, if only to make your own mind up.

Others have given a good run down on the three separate auditoria, which have housed some of the most notable productions in the UK over the past four decades. So I thought I'd mention some of the other great stuff the "National" has to offer the Londoner, or the out of towner, in search of a little bit of this great city on the cheap.

Don't feel that you need to have booked a ticket to see one of the many fine productions which are "on" at the National to put this on your itinerary for a day out South of the river. The foyers, terraces and bars/restaurants are all open free to the general public and you could do much worse than spend an afternoon chilling with the National.

This Saturday I dropped in to check out some extremely fine Cuban music in the foyer provided by the Sugar Kings, a great trio from Havana. They played an absolutely storming set and it was just perfect to be able to grab a cold Corona from the bar and then get a seat not more than a few feet from the stage. Until the summer, when the schedule slows down and you get more stuff outside, you will find music by some top notch artists pretty much every day of the week before the theatre performances and the lunchtime sessions at the weekend are always worth checking out.

After the Sugar Kings set I wandered upstairs to check out the free exhibition of Allen Ginsberg photographs: "Angelheaded Hipsters". Most of these pictures will probably already be pretty familiar to you if you are a fan of the Beats but it's a well-staged exhibition and I spent a very enjoyable hour wandering about. If you are interested in modern American literature and the "lions" from the 40's, 50's and 60's you will find this fascinating.

Another great thing about the National are the "platforms"; a series of events associated with the plays or exhibitions. These are reasonably priced lectures or happenings led by experts in the field which are run to coincide with, and complement, what's going on at the theatre. There is a "Discovering the Beat Movement" event on 19 February for a fiver which will see Barry Miles and the poet Michael Horovitz amongst others talking the stage to give you their insight into Kerouac et al - to my mind a bit of a bit of a bargain.

On your way out make sure you hang onto your wallet and check out the very well-stocked bookshop. Lots of interesting, and often hard to find, stuff and I rarely leave without a package being tucked into the man bag - I like to persuade myself that having had a free afternoon’s entertainment this represents a good way of putting some money back into the theatre.

So anyway; the National Theatre, the Southbank and Brutalist architecture - I salute and thank you.

i love it, we love it, everybody loves it

That was the first place I visited in London. UNBELIEVABLE!

The best theatre place in London

I can't praise the National quite high enough. I have seen so many good plays here, and also a couple bad of course - but that's the point of an establishment like this.

If you're canny, the tickets are cheap and readily available. Embrace the £10 Travelex tickets - a fantastic idea if ever I saw one.

The Olivier is stunningly impressive, with a moving stage and huge capacity for set changes. The Lyttleton is more of the "traditional" theatre, stalls and a circle - not that that detracts from the fact that one of the best pieces of theatre I have ever seen, The White Guard, blew me away in there. Finally, the Cottesloe has an unusual set-up, with some side facing seats, but again, this somehow works.

Please try this place out if you haven't already - it really is a cut above the rest.

If I was taking a good friend out for a theatre experience I would take them somewhere else, a little bit more comfortable and appealing. I recently visited to see an Alan Bennet play at the National and I was struck by the simplicity of the seating...dull facilities and all the seats directly behind each other which was a bit of a pain when a tall blokey is sittiing right in front of you. Surely, the whole new designing in this country is going backwards if this is an example. Unfortunately, we had also experienced 're-heated' food in the Littleton Restaurant served at £22 per head for two courses and the overall experience was pretty disappointing.