New Theatre Royal Reviews 4

During a family holiday, I bought x4 tickets to the showing of Snow White on Monday 22 December. However on that morning, I received a message saying that my father was gravely unwell in Essex & so I had to return there from due to this family emergency. Despite this emergency, the theatre told me there was a strict no refund policy despite this family emergency and it being the festive season. All felt a bit callous in such painful circumstances.

Outraged at view from my pre-booked seat which totally spoiled my evening. Also at the tone of reply to my emailed complaint. Be very aware that many seats have an obstructed view. Search into this before you buy, and do not believe the staff view - literally! I was told this seat, pic on fb, has no obstructed view, except for a tiny corner of the stage. Just look at it! I will never, ever go again.

Disappointed + feeling conned after seeing Aladdin…
The best tickets available for Aladdin were booked and paid for nearly a year in advance. I booked the whole front row of the theatre for my family.

But the week before the pantomime I received an email from Kika at the New Theatre Royal to say the Box Office Team had discovered that the stage had extended out a little further than expected. But they hoped we would still enjoy our 'up close and personal' view from the front row and to help you enjoy the full panto experience we would like to offer everyone in the front row a complimentary ice-cream.

I telephoned to make sure we could see, especially as we had small children in the family. I was assured that we would only not be able to see the bottoms of peoples legs at the back of the stage.

That was not true.

When we attended on 21st December then the view was obscured for me and I am 5' 11".

The pantomime from Jordan Productions was good and the whole family enjoyed the show, we just couldn't see it, especially the small children with us. Even on booster seats they couldn't see.

The view became worse after the scene with water when the plastic sheeting on the floor was refolded in front of us.

The show was good. Chris Aukett was good as Widow Twankey, and Wishee Washee was played well by James Oates. Alex Scott Fairley was an excellent baddy (as Abanazaar) and Josiah Eloi did well as the Police Constable. We just couldn't see it.

I was left disappointed and feeling conned. In any normal theatre the seats would have been clearly labelled as having a restricted view and they would not have been the most expensive in the the theatre.

We visited the New Theatre Royal Portsmouth earlier this year to see the Drifters who sang very few Drifters songs and switched to Michael Jackson songs in the second half when we decided to leave. It is clear that the theatre is not really set up to accommodate musical tributes acts or that the staff are not engaging with the audience in the spirit of the event despite the act encouraging it. The bar drinks are very expensive and the staff need hospitality training. We no longer use this venue to see live music events (which were poor) for this reason.