I love seeing plays and musicals here. I especially like musicals and sitting in the front row by the live orchestra. It's so fun! I love the history, beauty, and decor of this building. They have a fun gift shop too. My only complaint is the seating. I prefer sitting in the first row here so I can make sure to see everything. The seating isn't raked like a typical theatre, so the second row is lower than the first, for example, so it makes it harder to see if you have a taller person in front of you. You can preorder a drink for intermission which is nice. read more

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We were here to see "Dirty Rotten Scoundrels". It is a very funny and entertaining musical. The seats in the balcony not only have little leg room, but also the rows are not banked well enough so that I could see the center of the stage as a taller person sat in front of me. read more

Very nice theatre with actually some leg room for the seats in the balcony. The seats are sometimes really in front of each other, so I had to lean to see the middle of the stage. We saw Dirty rotten scoundrels, a nice musical. read more

Saw Rocky Horror Picture Show and Little Shop of Horrors here and both productions were outstanding! Costumes, set design, lighting effects, sound quality, and performances were excellent. For Little Shop of Horrors the animatronic puppet of Audrey II was impressive. I wondered while watching if the Audrey II alien venus flytrap would actually eat people and he surely did. Rocky Horror was also a blast! Lots of people in the audience were sporting their fishnets and corsets and they had hecklers planted in the audience to yell all the prompts. They sold prop kits in the gift shop for around $10 that came with a glow stick, newspaper, gloves, cards, and all the usual Rocky Horror props for audience participation. It was a riot! The acting and singing in both plays was great. Tickets for shows can be pricey if you sit on the mainfloor, usually in the $100s. We sat in balcony for both shows and the view was great but leg room was limited. For Rocky Horror Picture Show we bought our tickets as a mystery lottery seat deal for $32.77 CAD with fees. We were surprised after the tickets were added to cart and the order was placed online, that none of our seats were together except for two but the rest of us all had to sit separately. Also one of the seats said must be for a short person which naturally was me. My seat was Right K 118. The view was great but there was a ledge that came inward and I had to sit sideways because there was no leg room. I noticed that year everyone sitting near me was also sitting separately from their friends as they also did the lottery. The next year we bought our seats together and it only cost a little bit more around $46 CAD. This time we were Center K 107. View was good and leg room was a little better but leg room is still pretty limited. Avon Theatre used to be an old movie theatre and was converted to the Avon Theatre for play productions. There is an upper and lower balcony. We sat in upper balcony both years but it's a small venue and the view was good and there isn't a bad viewpoint in the house. The Avon Theatre gift shop is open before and after the play and I'd definitely recommend checking it out. They sell merch specific to the play you're seeing as well as playbills, Shakespeare memorabilia, DVDs, and more. They had a ton of merch for Rocky Horror Picture Show for sale with every size t-shirt, coffee mugs, prop kits and more, but they were really picked over and sold down on merch for Little Shop of Horrors and only had a few t-shirts in limited sizes left. In the Rocky Horror Picture Show prop kit and Little Shop of Horrors program, there was a coupon for $2 off a themed cocktail after the show at the bar downstairs on the first floor. A few cast members came down for a free meet and greet too. There was also a photo op cardboard cutout set up for each play in the lobby next to the bar. We usually take a picture after the show and there is typically a line. There is also another bar and lounge area upstairs selling things like coffee, tea, bottled water, wine, spirits, ice cream, chips, and cookies. If you buy a cocktail from the upstairs bar, it's served in a souvenir Stratford Festival tumbler that you get to keep which is nice. We always have a great time seeing theatre here! It's quickly becoming a yearly tradition. Will probably be back next year for Chicago or A Midsummer Night's Dream. read more

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Pretty nice theater, a little smaller than some of the Detroit area ones. I came here with some friends this past weekend to see Little Shop of Horrors. We had balcony tickets and ushers were able to escort us to our seats. The seats themselves are a little cramped - not a ton of leg room - but are okay ... I've sat in worse. There is one row mid-balcony that has no seats in front of it, and ALL the leg room, so I recommend trying to get that row if you're tall or if you need more space ... I believe it might be row I or row J, as we were in rows K and L. There are bars upstairs and downstairs if you'd like a drink or a snack, though I believe an usher said no food is allowed inside the theater (only drinks). Drinks are a little pricey, I paid $5 CAD for a Sprite (so, about $3.50-$3.75 USD). Check out the theater shop after for some gifts, they had Little Shop of Horror items like t-shirts and the movie ... I ended up buying a Stratford pin for my collection, which I was pleased with. Overall, very nice venue, and I'd come back here for another play when in the area. read more

Majority of my Stratford visit this year was at the Avon Theatre. Three nights were visited here and three nights we were duly impressed. The Avon Threatre is Stratford Theatre's downtown location with plenty of nearby parking to take advantage of. It has a wonderful theatre store attached to it, a lobby downstairs, and a lobby upstairs. It seemed like most of the people were in the store with a scattering of people in the lobbies. Like the other threatres it was especially crowded right before they opened the doors to the venue itself. All three times I sat in the upper balcony seating. Two times we sat in the first row in the middle and once to stage right a few rows back. The seating rows are narrow, as narrow if not a little more narrow than the Festival Threatre. When people exited the row for intermission I had to stand up and press myself to the back of the chair as far as I could to let people slide pass. The night that I sat stage right the lady behind me was too tall for the seats and it was apparent because she either kept hitting the back of the seat or had to stretch at an awkward angle to stretch out her legs. By the second act she relocated to an empty seat toward the front because apparently it was just too awkward. For the theatre itself that is my only complaint. The acoustics were fantastic no matter where I sat. I could clearly see everything without having to adjust myself awkwardly. The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe was amazing there with these great sets, A Little Night Music filled the room with clear and delightful singing, and Shakespeare in Love stole my heart and made me laugh with abandon. It was utterly amazing. The only thing that caught me off guard was that the people who manned the doors was not nearly as friendly as they were at either the Festival Theatre or the Tom Patterson Theatre. One night my mother was snapped at because she lingered too close to the door. Another night we were sternly lectured about using the bathroom inside the threatre before the doors officially opened. That lady did not seem happy whatsoever about being on door duty. Overall, though, it was incredible. read more

Coriolanus We went to see Coriolanus at Avon Theatre. The theatre is beautiful, but the seating was super crammed. Not enough legroom and the seat bottoms are so close together that you are touching your neighbour. Not comfortable for a 3 hour show. That said, there isn't a bad seat in the house view-wise. The show was incredible. The production was amazing, the cast were all magnificent actors. It's a must-see show! The house wine was good. A few people were saying that it would be nice if there was more of a selection for snacks. read more

Nice theatre surrounded by lots of shops and restaurants in Stratford. Large lobby area with washrooms on lower level. Comfortable seating and bar on site read more

Very enjoyable theatre experience. The seats are nice and comfy and the production quality and set were super neat. I would consider coming again if the ticket prices didn't go for around $100/seat. read more

The Avon is my favorite in many ways. Not only does it hit all the important notes, such as acoustics, grandiosity, seat comfort, excellent theater shop, but it's right downtown. This means you can hot foot it from lunch or dinner on a whine, AND you can realistically find parking at some point without having to succumb to the silly $15 parking lot fee near Festival. read more

Avon Theatre - View from balcony box - Performing Arts Near Me - Stratford, Ontario

Just saw Diary of Ann Frank at the Avon. Absolutely fabulous performance. A very heartwretching and humbling experience. I would highly recommend this. Lovely theatre. Orchestra seating was amazing. read more