Tickets Alert: Behind the scenes tours of the Barbican theatre

If you’ve ever fancied wandering around the Barbican’s back corridors and up to the high fly tower, then you’ll be pleased to hear they’ve resumed the backstage tours of their main theatre.

The tour groups are small, of necessity, as some of the spaces are a bit cramped. They start with an introduction to the Barbican art centre itself and how the ravages of WWII created the space for an entire housing development and art centre to be built.

It also turns out that the Barbican’s architects originally wanted two large multi-purpose rooms, but they wisely brought in theatre designers to help. These designers equally wisely advised that multi-purpose spaces have to have so many compromises that they never please anyone. So, the Barbican ended up with a dedicated concert hall and theatre instead.

The tour mainly involves walking around the back areas, which are usually only seen by staff and actors. If you’ve never been to the Barbican theatre, the unusual entry through side doors will surprise you. What even regular visitors might not have noticed is how the upper levels are angled forward rather than back, as is more commonplace, which ensures that people are never too far from the stage, even in the back seats.

Then to the fun part – going down under the stage and up high above the stage.

The tours last about an hour and offer a fairly rare chance to wander around the Barbican’s private spaces. They’re also quite decently priced at £15 per person and can be booked from here.

When booking it says to choose seats – there are no seats, just book tickets.

Due to the nature of the tour and the show setup, photos are not permitted during the tour as they want to keep the back spaces a bit of a secret to discover.