Dress Circle at the Duchess Theatre

Nine rows above the Stalls, 180 seats, head-on to the stage, and the cheaper of the two levels.

Where we'd put you

The front-to-middle of the Dress Circle. It's well raked and faces the stage straight on, and you're close enough to see faces, which in a theatre this small makes it a genuinely good alternative to the Stalls. There are no restricted views up here.

The further back you go, the less you pay, and the view holds up: even the back rows, up near the roof, keep a completely clear view of the stage. If you're choosing between the back of the Dress Circle and a cheap seat at the end of a Stalls row, the Dress Circle is the one that sees the whole stage.

What to know before you book

The steps up to every row are steep, so take care on the way to your seat, and it isn't the level for anyone who finds stairs hard. There's no centre aisle, so you reach your seat from the ends of the row, with a cross-aisle behind row C.

Getting up there, drinks and toilets

It's 11 steps up from the foyer, and there's no lift. The Ladies and Gents are on this level, but there's no bar up here: the foyer bar is back down those 11 steps, or ask the staff, who can bring drinks and snacks to your seat.

The Boxes

Two Boxes sit behind the last row of the Dress Circle and two at its front corners. The two at the back are sold among the cheapest seats in the theatre, along with the slip seats at the front of the circle. The Boxes page says which ones are worth it.