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Royal Opera House sells £5 seats for short lunch-break shows on five Fridays

Each show begins at 1pm under the glass roof of the Paul Hamlyn Hall, and seats can now be booked ahead instead of queued for.

Royal Opera House sells £5 seats for short lunch-break shows on five Fridays
Photo: IanVisits

Key facts

  • Seats for the Royal Opera House lunchtime shows cost £5 each
  • Each show begins at 1pm and runs for roughly 45 minutes in the Paul Hamlyn Hall
  • Dates: 25 September, 2 October, 23 October, 20 November and 27 November
  • Tickets are sold online in advance, so every booking comes with a seat

A £5 ticket buys a seat at a short lunchtime show inside the Royal Opera House in Covent Garden. Five Fridays have been announced so far, and the first is 25 September.

The performers are drawn from The Royal Opera, The Royal Ballet and the house orchestra, and guest artists appear alongside them. The sessions happen roughly twice a month.

Royal Opera House lunchtime performance times and tickets

Every show begins at 1pm. It is over in roughly three quarters of an hour, so it fits into a lunch break or a pause while out in Covent Garden.

The venue is the Paul Hamlyn Hall, the glass-covered hall inside the opera house.

These sessions were once free. That meant queueing, sometimes for a long time, with no promise of getting in. The opera house now charges £5 a head instead, and in return tickets can be bought online beforehand, so each booking guarantees a seat.

Upcoming Friday lunchtime dates

Five dates have been published so far: 25 September, 2 October, 23 October, 20 November and 27 November. Each of them falls on a Friday.

Every date has its own booking page on the Royal Opera House website, and tickets are sold for each performance separately. More dates may be added later, as the sessions usually run about twice a month.

Key questions

How much are Royal Opera House lunchtime performances?

Tickets cost £5 per person.

What time do the Friday lunchtime shows begin?

Each one begins at 1pm and runs for roughly three quarters of an hour.

When are the next Royal Opera House lunchtime performances?

The dates published so far are 25 September, 2 October, 23 October, 20 November and 27 November.

Where in the Royal Opera House are they held?

They are held in the Paul Hamlyn Hall, which has a glass roof.