Kiss Me Kate at Barbican Theatre
Booking
Booking was easy and made online after registering for their access scheme.
After booking I was able to log onto my account and see my seats and tickets easily.
Access Ticket: £29.50
Essential Carer Ticket: Free
Theatre Location
This theatre is located in London City behind St Pauls. It was our first time visiting the Barbican building and we got very lost. We even asked a coupe of business for assistance but the did not know the set-up for ramp/wheelchair access either despite being based there!
We had to walk around a lot to find a ramp to the first floor and it was more luck than judgement that we found the theatre at all.
Again leaving the theatre was a challenge as there are lots of steps but ramps and lifts we struggled to find despite trying to plan in advance.
My advice is to leave lots of extra time and treat it as a mini adventure because you will probably get lost!
Theatre Access
We accessed the theatre via a flat door on the stalls level however there are probably other entrances too. It was quite tricky to identify where the access was within the Barbican complex and we did have a couple of false starts getting off the lift at the wrong floors!
They do have a very good access page (Click Here), but despite this we still got lost!
Once inside there is easy flat access to a box at the back where we were seated once inside.
Access Host
There was no access host in the traditional sense. The ticket usher showed us to our seats and then we were left to our on devices.
It would have been helpful to have assistance in the interval as the toilet situation is less than ideal and having a member of staff would have helped.
There is also no option to order drinks to your seat during the interval. You can preorder at the bar but the drinks are then left unattended on a shelf in the foyer. This area is very congested at the interval so it is hard to access the drinks without carer assistance.
Seat and Staging
We sat in seat BXB1 and BXB2 which consisted of a wheelchair space and companion seat.
This is a self contained box area to the side at the back of the theatre.
The design of the theatre was really good and all of the stage was visible despite it being off to the side without any obstructions or the concern of obstructing others.
Toilets
The toilet was located in the foyer towards the back. There were two disabled toilets. These were a good size and there was plenty of space to transfer.
You don't need a radar key to access these and the normal toilets were a floor up which meant that there was a very long queue of people who did not need to use the access toilet but who chose to instead of going upstairs to the normal toilets.
The other patrons were very good at letting me go to the front of the queue but the whole situation was not very well managed.
I visited in August 2024 and all views expressed above are my personal opinion.
It was my first visit to the Barbican Theatre