Circle at the Olivier Theatre

The Circle is the Olivier's only upper level, seven rows from A at the front to G at the back. Nothing sits above it, so every seat sees the full height of the stage.

Who books the Circle, and what it costs

Anyone who wants the whole stage picture at once. For a production with a lot of spectacle, seeing it from above is the better view, not just the cheaper one. Prices run from some of the most expensive seats in the theatre, in the centre of row A, to some of the cheapest, at the far ends of row G.

The front, rows A to D

Row A is the premium end of this level and it earns some of it: the whole stage laid out below and nobody's head in front of you at all, which makes it the row to pay for if you are on the short side. It suits anything with dance or spectacle in it better than it suits straight drama, where the Stalls is the better trade.

Rows B, C and D in the centre block are the sensible middle of the level, fair value in that order, and the rake starts to build through them.

The back, rows E, F and G

The rake gets noticeably steeper from row D back and the distance starts to tell. The centre of rows F and G is poor value at its price: a long way back, and paying centre-block money for it. A side-block seat in row G, nearer the aisle, sees much the same for less.

At the far ends of rows F and G, the curve of the auditorium works against you: the stage narrows into a wedge and you peer along it rather than across it. G1 to G10 and G73 to G83 are where it bites hardest. A few people also find the angle down from there enough to bring on vertigo, even though the level is not especially high. Book further in if either would spoil it.

The seats beside the centre aisles

This is where the value on this level sits. The side blocks are separated from the centre block by aisles, and the seats just across those aisles are often priced below the middle of the same row while seeing almost as well.

The rule holds all the way back: take the seat nearest a centre aisle in the row you can afford, rather than the row nearest the front further along it. Up here, central beats close.

Sound, posts and the rest

Sound in the side blocks is the same caution as a level below. For a production without microphones, the middle is the place to be.

Safety posts stand at the centre-aisle ends of the rows. They are an irritation rather than a view problem.

Legroom up here is fine in every seat for all but the tallest. Bring the layer up here too.

Getting to your seat

The Circle is on level 3, reached by the four lifts from the main ground-floor foyer or by the stairs. You come in at the back, level with row G, and go down from there: 18 steps to row A at the front.

The steps are quite steep, and there are handrails on all the aisles, which is the opposite of the Stalls centre aisle a level below. If stairs are a consideration, the back of this level is one of the easiest seats to reach, since you come in level with row G. Access has the full picture.

The bar and the toilets on this level

There is a bar on the Circle level, open from an hour before the performance and during the interval, so there is no need to go down a level in the interval. Toilets are on this level too.

Where we would sit

A seat next to a centre aisle, in the best row you can afford. Rows B, C or D if there is a choice. Booking for spectacle rather than for a play, row A in the centre is worth the money; booking on price, a side-block seat near the aisle in row G sees nearly as much for less.