I've always said that it's the work taking place inside the building, rather than the bricks and mortar, that make a theatre a theatre, but a great bar or cafe can feel like its beating heart.
The Finborough theatre felt very odd and slightly sad to visit during the closure of the pub, which has now reopened as the Finborough Arms. I'm particularly fond of theatre cafes and bars that attract theatremakers who use the space as unofficial offices – I love the Traverse in Edinburgh and BAC, the Young Vic and Soho theatre in London during the day for that reason. Northern Stage in Newcastle is a winner in every way.
I'm often a little bit disappointed by theatres in New York and mainland Europe, where the lack of bar facilities means that an audience only appears shortly before a show and then melts away afterwards. One of the great pleasures of a fringe theatre bar is rubbing shoulders with the actors afterwards. The informality of places such as the Arcola in east London, or in the west, the Bush (love the nod to the old library) really encourage that.
Of course many West End theatre bars are beautiful, but are not intended as places you would linger – and why would you when the prices can be so eye-wateringly high? Last week at Another Country I paid £4.50 for an interval ice-cream, and when I tweeted about this I was inundated with tweets from others complaining about ice-cream, but particularly bar prices, in West End theatres.
You can pay up to £9 for a glass of wine at a Really Useful Group theatre, although prices start at £6.40. You'll get a premium wine (personally tasted by Cameron Mackintosh) at Delfont Mackintosh theatres for £6, while prices start at £5 in ATG theatres, but rise quickly depending on size and quality.
One of the main complaints is that while prices are displayed, they are not displayed clearly enough, so by the time you get to the front of the queue and order two glasses of wine and find yourself paying £18, you simply hand over the money and don't question it when there might have been less costly options.
At subsidised houses it's not just the ticket prices but the wine that's cheaper, too. In London the cheapest I found was £3.60 for a small glass at the Young Vic, but head to Liverpool's Everyman and Playhouse and you'll only pay £2.95. Tell us if you can beat that.
I like the way that bars often reflect the theatre itself, and I am always impressed at what a few fairy lights can do. To tell the truth, when I'm at the theatre I'm more interested in a cup of tea than a glass of wine, but I loved the atmosphere of the new pop-up bar at Shoreditch Town Hall when I visited a couple of weeks back, and while the Royal Court is too aggressively trendy, and Soho is too busy and noisy for me in the evenings, it's always terrific to see the place jumping, and knowing that it's making a real contribution to the finances of the theatre.
Do tell us about your favourite theatre bars and cafes across the country – and also tell us about the rip-off places to avoid.
