Access and Facilities at the Novello Theatre

The step-free seats are in the Dress Circle, reached from the Catherine Street entrance by a wheelchair lift. The Stalls, the Grand Circle and the Balcony are stairs only, and there's no lift for audiences between levels.

Access bookings are handled by the venue, not by us, through the access team on the theatre's official site.

Getting in and getting to your seat

The main entrance on Aldwych has steps. The step-free entrance is on Catherine Street, and staff need to know you'd like to use it. From there a wheelchair lift reaches the Dress Circle, where row A is at street level. The lift has size and weight limits that rule out some electric wheelchairs and mobility scooters, so check with the venue before you book.

Steps to each level, from the main foyer:

• Stalls: about 40 steps down
• Dress Circle: 3 to 10 steps, or step-free from Catherine Street
• Grand Circle: about 40 steps up
• Balcony: about 50 steps up

Wheelchair and transfer seating

There's one wheelchair space per performance, at Dress Circle AA11, with companions in AA12 onwards. For anyone who can transfer, Dress Circle A24 is reached step-free, with companions from A23, and the theatre can provide a manual wheelchair for the transfer where possible. The theatre's own seating plan marks A23 and A24 for limited mobility as well.

Accessible toilets

There's an accessible toilet on the Dress Circle level, which you can reach from row A without steps. Every level has toilets.

Hearing and sight

Auracast covers the whole auditorium. Receivers are collected from the cloakroom and come with headphones or a personal induction loop, and Auracast-enabled hearing aids connect directly through your phone's Bluetooth settings. Captioned and audio-described performances are scheduled show by show, with a touch tour before audio-described ones, and the dates for MAMMA MIA! are on the show page. The theatre also publishes a visual story, as a video or a printable guide, for anyone who'd like to know what to expect before they arrive.

Assistance dogs

Guide dogs and assistance dogs are welcome, and staff can look after your dog during the performance if you ask in advance.

Bars

There are four bars, all selling drinks, snacks and ice creams but no hot food. The theatre is cashless, so bring a contactless card.

• Sam's Bar, behind the foyer, 7 steps down, with its own entrance from Catherine Street by 3 steps or the wheelchair lift
• Ivor's Bar, at the back of the Stalls
• The Shubert Bar, 29 steps up from the main foyer
• The Waldorf Bar, serving the Grand Circle and the Balcony

Bags and coats

Every bag is checked on arrival. The cloakroom takes coats and small bags for a small charge, but not larger bags or suitcases.

Tips for the night

• If you need the step-free route, book the Dress Circle and ask for the front of it: from row E the Grand Circle above starts to take the top of the stage.
• Legroom and a short climb don't come together here. The roomiest seats are in the Stalls, the lowest level, so if you need both, talk to the venue's access team about the Dress Circle seats before you book.