Shaftesbury Theatre, London

90 minutes before the performance. The bars open with the doors, and because the theatre is working on two levels at the moment, the ones that are open get busy in the last twenty minutes before curtain up. You don't need to be there that early, though: 15 to 20 minutes before the start is plenty.

1,054 at the moment, most of them in the Stalls (636) and the Royal Circle (380), with four Boxes at the sides. The Grand Circle is closed while the theatre restores its dome, so the building is selling around 250 fewer seats a night than it does with all three levels open.

Three, though only two are reachable at the moment. The 1911 is on the Stalls level and is fully step-free by lift. The Bertie Crewe Bar serves the Royal Circle. The third, the Melville, sits on the Grand Circle level and is shut along with it until the refurbishment finishes. All of them are cashless.

For most shows the centre Stalls win, because you are close enough to see faces and the rake is decent. The Royal Circle earns its place if you want the whole stage picture in one view, and its front rows are an alternative in their own right rather than a downgrade. Both open levels are covered in full on our seating plan.

No. Comfort is the main thing, and people turn up in everything from jeans to black tie without anyone minding. Trainers are absolutely fine. The only thing worth thinking about is that the auditorium is air conditioned, so a layer is more useful than a heavy coat you then have to hold.

The limit is 35cm wide, 17cm deep and 42cm high, and anything inside that comes in with you. Anything over it is turned away at the auditorium door, and since the building has no cloakroom there is nowhere to leave it.

On every open level, and the refurbishment has doubled the number of them, which was the building's oldest complaint. There are new ladies' toilets on the Stalls level. The accessible toilet is also on the Stalls level and is step-free.

Yes, throughout, and the system was upgraded as part of the current works. The theatre puts the air change rate at eight times an hour. In practice that means you can book the Royal Circle in July without the usual worry about the top of an old theatre being the warmest part of it.

210 Shaftesbury Avenue, WC2H 8DP, on Princes Circus. Head for Tottenham Court Road station, about five minutes away, rather than Piccadilly Circus, which is a good ten minutes downhill and the wrong end of the avenue. Seven Dials is the neighbourhood on the doorstep, not Soho.

From Paddington, the Elizabeth line runs straight to Tottenham Court Road with no changes, which is the easiest mainline connection to this theatre. From Waterloo, take the Northern line to Tottenham Court Road, also direct. Both leave you about a five-minute walk from the door.

You will be held at the back and shown in at a suitable break in the performance, sometimes into a different seat until the interval. That is at the discretion of the front of house team and it is not guaranteed to be quick, so arrive 15 to 20 minutes before, no later.