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Beat the heat in the West End

Carly-Ann Clements

By Carly-Ann Clements First Published 26 July 2018, Last Updated 27 July 2018

Things are well and truly hotting up in London. Between the rising heat, the soaring humidity and the school holidays, things are getting a little bit too hot to handle in our dear city. Yes, the prospect of a beach is exciting. Yes, Love Island is reaching boiling point. Yes, beer in a garden is delicious. But when you’re standing shoulder-to-shoulder in a packed bar when it’s 30° outside, everything’s just a little bit less fun. So we say skip it! Step out of the crowd, escape the mugginess and go to the theatre instead.

Rush no more

Avoid that packed, sweaty, faint-inducing rush-hour ride. Stay in the West End and see a show. Add a bit of spontaneity to your life by visiting our TKTS booth in Leicester Square. Not only can you get last minute tickets for performances that night, you can also save up to 50%.

Got a bit more time to plan your tube avoidance? Then book a ticket online. There are dozens of musicals and plays on right now so finding a place to hide away from the heat while having a great time will be easy to find.

Go to a theatre with AC

Plenty of theatres in the West End have air conditioning or air cooling. So keep it cool by heading along to one of these theatres:

Adelphi Theatre (showing Kinky Boots)

Ambassadors Theatre (showing Pressure)

Apollo Theatre (showing Everybody’s Talking About Jamie)

Apollo Victoria (showing Wicked)

Cambridge Theatre (showing Matilda The Musical)

London Coliseum (showing The Glenn Miller Story)

Criterion Theatre (showing The Comedy About A Bank Robbery)

Dominion Theatre (showing Bat Out Of Hell The Musical)

Duchess Theatre (showing The Play That Goes Wrong)

Fortune Theatre (showing The Woman In Black)

Garrick Theatre (showing Young Frankenstein)

Gielgud Theatre (showing Imperium)

Gillian Lynne Theatre (showing School Of Rock The Musical)

Harold Pinter Theatre (showing Consent)

Haymarket, Theatre Royal (showing Tartuffe)

Her Majesty’s Theatre (showing The Phantom Of The Opera)

London Palladium (showing The King And I)

Lyceum Theatre (showing Disney’s The Lion King)

Lyric Theatre (showing Thriller Live)

Nl Coward Theatre (showing The Lieutenant Of Inishmore)

Novello Theatre (showing Mamma Mia!)

The Old Vic Theatre (showing A Monster Calls)

Phoenix Theatre (showing Chicago)

Piccadilly Theatre (showing Strictly Ballroom The Musical)

Prince Edward Theatre (showing Disney’s Aladdin)

Prince Of Wales Theatre (showing The Book Of Mormon)

Shaftesbury Theatre (showing Motown The Musical)

St Martin’s Theatre (showing The Mousetrap)

Trafalgar Studios (showing Killer Joe)

Vaudeville Theatre (showing The Importance Of Being Earnest)

Victoria Palace Theatre (showing Hamilton)

Wyndham’s Theatre (showing Red)

Stock up on the treats during the intermission

A crisp, cold rosé and a tub of ice-cream. That’s what this weather calls for. When that curtain goes down at the end of act one, quick foot it to the concessions stand and pick up something tasty and ice-cold. The best thing about it, theatre ice-cream is guilt-free. Fact.

You can find more top tips for visiting London’s Theatreland right here.

First published 8 July 2018; Updated 26 July

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