Overview

We were able to park on the yellow lines directly outside the theatre, which has a step-free entrance just across the pavement next to the other entrance, and it was then only a short roll down a sloped corridor to the stalls, passing a snug but manageable accessible loo on the way. The wheelchair spaces are at the back of the theatre under the circle, which creates the usual letterbox view of the stage as well as restricting vision. However, this was mitigated by the fact that the sound and lighting were excellent and the theatre is relatively short. The direction had also taken this into account and there was no action we could not see. Refreshments could be ordered from our seats and were delivered to us in the interval by helpful friendly staff.

Transport & Parking

There is plentiful street parking so long as you arrive at least 30 minutes in advance. There were staff outside monitoring arrivals and it would have been possible to obtain help if needed.

Access

Toilets

Staff

Anything else you wish to tell us?

We were at Richmond Theatre to see Crush: The Musical and the access was good enough for us to be able to focus on the show without the usual frustrations. Crush worked best when it stuck to recognisable motifs and characters from the girls' school story genre it draws on, and also lost some of the audience members when it moved into territory that was only easily recognisable to a lesbian audience. However, every aspect of the production was 5*, from the direction, music and acting to the costumes and set design. It seems churlish to add that I would have ensured the representation of the Fourth Form; cast a woman in the man's role (men being as irrelevant in girls' school stories as they are in lesbian fiction); and made the 'Stairways' nightclub scene butch-femme as it was in reality. I would also have given the heroine a widowed mother who developed a close relationship with the underdog teacher during the course of discussing her daughter's 'unnatural' proclivities. As it was, the show ended with the threats of 'getting you treatment' from the heroine's (both living) parents unresolved - something that may go unnoticed by a straight audience, but not gay.