Overview

Small theatre with bar and restaurant housed in a former water mill, on the banks of the River Thames. Venue offers a combo package of 2 course meal and theatre ticket. The is good accessibility. UPDATED: see updates below

Transport & Parking

The theatre is in a village which a 10 minute taxi ride from Reading Station. Reading Station has step free access and the taxi rank is immediately outside of the station. The taxi was able to drop off/ pick up directly outside the theatre. Taxi from Reading Station cost about £12 - 14 (2017). There is no local bus service. There is a car park.

Access

The building is a converted mill and has low ceilings and uneven floors The main entrance had a slight step through the front door and then a couple of stairs down into the bar. The bar area is spacious and there is plenty of seating. In one corner the water wheel which revolves. There is a one or two steps up into another seating area which also has access to the outside riverside terrace. The dinning room is on the 1st floor and accessible by stairs. However there is another entrance from the car park which has a stair lift to the dining area. We had our dinner in the River Room, 1st floor, but there is also the Sonning Room, which we didn't see. Access to the theatre is at the 1st floor level and comes out into the back row. All other rows involve steps. The theatre is small with just 215 seats. Just outside there are a couple steps by the car park which leads down to the River Thames. UPDATED 2019: Bar is always busy when we visit but this time managed to find a tucked away corner of the bar, see photos. The bar with its water wheels is a unique and special place to visit. Top tip, we stay for another drink after the show, when the bar is less crowded and we always have a choice of seats.

Toilets

There was a disabled accessible toilet on the 1st floor but there was a queue, so unable to comment as I used the ladies toilets. A least one of the cubicles in the ladies has a single grab rail to aid transfer. Update from further visit in March 2018 when I did use the accessible toilet. It's located on the first floor and is a spacious cubicle with grab rails but no emergency cord. UPDATED 2019: Accesssble toilet has been refurbished and there is a brand spanking new accessible toilet, with lots of grab rails and an emergency cord which reached to the floor. Brilliant. Thank you Mill at Sonning it looks amazing.

Staff

Staff were excellent, very friendly and welcoming. At the time of booking your theatre seats are not allocated. However I put an note on the booking asking for no or few steps and we were allocated seats in the back row. The whole set up is very well organised. A 2 course lunch or dinner is included in the price of your theatre tickets. There is a choice of 3 mains, including 1 vegetarian, plus there is vegetable side dishes which is self service and puddings are ordered at your table. When I went to the self service counter staff, seeing my crutch proactively offered assistance. Likewise in the bar, I asked if I could have help with carrying my drinks and they were very helpful. Likewise when we couldn't get a response from the taxi number we had for the journey home the box office supplied us with a number and offered to phone for the taxi. UPDATED 2019: Staff are always lovely and extremely helpful everytime we visit. When we arrived at the self service restaurant, a member of staff immediately asked if I needed help, it's always good to see staff around and being so proactive, it makes me feel able to ask for help easily if I had needed it. Again requested and was given seats in the back row, which is level entry from the restaurant.

Anything else you wish to tell us?

The building has limited access but staff really put themselves out to help. The theatre does a range of productions drama, musicals, comedy and one night special events. We went for the matinee of Agatha Christie's Spider's Web directed by Brian Blessed. The production was excellent and being on the end of the row I ended up sitting next to Brian Blessed. We loved the whole experience, it's very well organised. When we arrived there is a board in the box office with the seating plan. When we got to our designated table our theatre tickets and a programme were already on our table. We ate in the River Room and our table over looked the River Thames and the room had a lot of charm and character with wooden beams. The bar area was delightful. We both felt that we had been on an mini holiday, we felt relaxed, entertained and well cared for. We liked it so much that we have booked for another show as soon as we came home. UPDATED 2019: Agatha Christie's Towards Zero was excellent and very funny in places, fabulous production. We love The Mill, it's such a treat to visit and everything is always perfect when we go there and it makes for a very special day out.

Photos