Stalls at the Criterion Theatre

The bottom level, and the biggest: 54 steps down from Piccadilly Circus, four floors below the street. It's a single unbroken block with no aisles at all, so you get in and out from the ends of the rows. Sit in the middle of a row of twenty-three and you could be climbing over people to get in and out.

Who the Stalls suit

Almost everyone. It's where we try to sit most of our customers, the viewing is good almost the whole way across, and you're close to the cast wherever you are. The one thing it isn't is easy to reach: if stairs are a problem, look at the Upper Circle instead.

The front rows

The first row changes from show to show. The Stalls start at row A for some productions, and a few removable rows can go in front of that, so check where the plan begins for your show. For Titanique it starts at row B.

The floor is barely raked at the front, so if you're short, think twice. The theatre sells part of the front row with a written warning that the people in front may be in the way, and prices those seats below the standard one.

For Titanique, a few front-row seats come with limited legroom and a condition: bags and coats have to go into the cloakroom, which is free for those seats.

Where we'd put you

Centre Stalls, around row E. The single best view in the building. Row E is roughly where the rake picks up, which is the real reason the best seat sits where it does. It's also where the few top-price seats are.

The sides of the Stalls. Better here than side seats usually are, and still costing less than the middle. The viewing holds up right across the width of this level.

Further back, and the pillars

The Dress Circle is above you from about row H at the sides and row K in the centre, and from about row M back you start to lose the top of the stage.

Directly behind the thick pillars, about two-thirds of the way back, is where to think twice. Sit behind one and the view is properly restricted; sit centrally and you are clear of them. For a theatre with this many columns in it, the problem turns out to be narrower than the seating plan makes it look.

Legroom in the Stalls

Fair for most people, and tighter for anyone over about 5ft 10. With no aisle, an end seat is the easiest if you're tall. A seat with tight legroom costs the same as a roomy one here, so it's worth picking carefully.

Steps to the Stalls

54 steps down from the main entrance on Piccadilly Circus, with no lift. The theatre can open its fire-exit stairs from Jermyn Street on request, which means fewer steps and a handrail, but it's still a climb. The access page has the detail.

Drinks and toilets

The Bourne Bar is by the Stalls entrance. The toilets and the bar are off one side of the Stalls, and with no aisle the whole row tends to go out that way at the interval, so an end seat on that side gets you there first.