St James Theatre

I went to this theatre to see the INCREDIBLE Katie Brennan present her super show, Twentysomething: The Quarter-​Life Crisis Cabaret, something which everyone ever needs to go and see because she’s amazing. FACT.
Now that’s out of the way, the venue itself is great — we were in the studio, which was more like a lounge than a fixed-​seat theatre, so perfect for a cabaret type show of this kind. The drinks were on the lower end of average for theatre prices I’ve experienced, although the 4-​for-​the-​price-​of-​3 offer was great if you’re going as a group.
The view of the stage, even from the side of it, was brilliant, and seats were comfy — due to them being movable, legroom and space can be changed to fit the audience’s needs.
Great little theatre, and fantastic show!

I’ve been to this theatre a few times now. I think it’s one of the best theatres in London for viewing the stage. Every one of the 312 seats would give you a clear view of the stage, as they are banked steeply.
When the St James Theatre opened in 2012, it was said to be the first newly built theatre complex to be built in central London in 30 years. The theatre was built on the site of the former Westminster Theatre, which was demolished after fire damage in 2002. It was designed by Foster Wilson Architects who also worked on the Trafalgar Studios, and the Tricycle cinema in Kilburn.
The downside of the design is that the backs of the seats in front are backed up to the aisle of the seats behind. This means that the seat pitch is slightly restricted. I’m short so this is not a problem for me, but it could be a problem for taller theatre goes.
The foyer has a nice bar and plenty of seating, but cane be very crowded too. It is very light and is on street level, as is the entrance to the theatre auditorium. There is only one entrance to the auditorium from the foyer. This is not a problem though as there are only 312 seats. There are several emergency exits though.
The complex also houses a 120 capacity studio theatre, although I have yet to go there. St James Theatre is a welcome addition to the West End scene.

Great modern little theatre with great seats everywhere. Spent the day at a workshop then saw Breeders which was a hilarious and fun show.
Not much space for audiences to wait before or after shows. I was constantly in the way of people. Plus I’ve never seen such huge trays for the servers! I’m taking the size of a round table for 4 people. Id like to say that’s a good thing but in such a small dining place it was hard for severs and public to move out the way.

The St James theatre is a cute little theatre near Buckingham Palace. We came to watch Urinetown (which was excellent by the way but I’ll stick to reviewing the theatre.
The theatre is small but has some pretty impressive stage design for the show we were watching. The cheap seats (where we sat obviously) were at the back of the block of seats — they weren’t so bad to be honest but the fact that the seats rise away from the stage quite steeply may mean you are unable to see any action that happens high on the stage (Urinetown had two levels so this happened a bit but it wasn’t too bad).
I had a spare ticket due to the tube strike and the theatre bought it back from me at the price I paid. Now I don’t know if they only do this when they are full when they know they have buyers ready to buy — I’m imagining this to be true, but wouldn’t be able to say for sure.
Watch out though, the cloakroom to put your bag in (and yes you really do want to put your bag in the cloakroom rather than by your feet as there is limited legroom) is down about 5 flights of stairs so make sure you get there in plenty of time.

I came to the St. James Theatre to watch Urinetown for my birthday. Seriously though, a musical named Urinetown? Yes. And it really was that good. Good and grim. Frighteningly grim for a musical. I would wholeheartedly recommend anyone to watch it (even though it’s ending soon, but maybe it will come back someday).
The theatre itself is interesting. It’s a bit small inside the actual theatre, which I guess can be nice for a small intimate show. There’s quite a steep incline for the stairs as there aren’t many seats and they want to make sure people can see.
The bar outside is a bit tiny. There wasn’t much seating (but we found some), and the champagne we ordered before the show wasn’t chilled first. That was a bit strange. The ice bucket helped though.
So they do some interesting shows, and I’m sure I’d be back if there was something playing that I wanted to see, although I can’t really imagine not going to any theatre if there was a show I wanted to see.

Back again at the St James Theatre, this time for ridiculously named Urinetown the Musical. Again I give the theatre 5 stars for the experience — great views, lovely atmosphere and a good bar are all conductive to a good cultural night out.
Urinetown the Musical itself I’d give 3 stars– the cast are very talented, with some excellent performances and the two level staging looked superb. The play itself was a pessimistic tale set in a far fetched dystopian future where water is in short supply. Luckily a big bad organisation has stepped in and now you have to pay to pee or face serious consequences. I would be bankrupt in days. The script is humour laden and very self referential — and it was quite unique to have a big Malthus related message at the core of a funny musical. The crowd absolutely loved it. I heard lots of shouts and cheers — I personally found it a nice entertaining affair but I didn’t enjoy it as much as they appeared to. But it’s great for a show to have a message and I did leave the theatre terribly aware of my water consumption. Now does anyone have a penny or two, I got to go to the ladies?

I attended a conference here so the review is not a reflection on the merits of the theatre as an artistic venue. The studio theatre was used for the conference but between the theatre and the organisers far too many people were squeezed into the space so it was most uncomfortable and watching the screen was difficult. Lunch was provided by the theatre and this is my main gripe. Almost everything served was high in saturated fat and unhealthy eating for a normal adult who eats the recommended amounts of fat sugar etc and a sensible calorie intake. What is more the quantity of food, served as canapés, was mean, very mean. A plate of simple sandwiches and some fruit would have been so much better than endless beefburgers, cakes and cream pies. A few small fish cakes and some chicken were provided if you were lucky enough to grab a waiter. Easily the worst conference lunch I have experienced.

The theatre is great! Came here to watch «Cinderella: A Fairytale» this past week and the show was quirky, British and fun. The seating in the theatre is comfortable and well-​tiered, don’t think there could be a bad seat in the house. Tickets were reasonably priced, so if the West End shows are breaking the bank, then this is a good alternative for some culture and entertainment.
My only tiny gripe was in trying to get a meal in before the show. The set up of the venue is a bit confusing, as there’s a bar on the ground floor (which serves drinks and light bites) and the restaurant with a la carte menu is on the first. We sat down on the ground floor, not knowing the difference and the menu on our table happened to be the food menu. It took 15 minutes and 2 waiters to realise that we had the wrong menu. Time was of the essence as we had a show to catch! In the end, my friend and I both got the gnocchi as it was the quickest thing on the menu to get out of the kitchen. Tasty, but small portion and expensive dish. If catching a show here, try to find a different dinner place nearby.