One of the many benefits of becoming a Friend is the chance to join our Theatre Group for visits to productions in the West End, South Bank and local theatres.

About the Theatre Group

We arrange theatre visits across London and have seen dozens of performances featuring a wide range of modern and classic playwrights in recent years. About once a month throughout the year, a small group - usually between 14-20 of us - meets up to see a play. It might be in the West End or at one of the many wonderful local theatres we are blessed with in London.

Most often we choose a midweek matinee: a mix of comedy, drama and the occasional musical: the highly popular Guys and Dolls was our most recent this summer.

After the play - and this is the bit that our people really value - the group moves to somewhere nearby that we can enjoy a drink together and have a lively discussion about what we’ve just seen.

All the admin around each trip is done for you - reviewing and selecting good shows, securing tickets (often at group rates), travel and joining instructions. What’s more, a small percentage of the cost of each ticket you purchase goes towards Age Exchange’s activities.

Trinity Laban concerts

As a Friend our popular Friday lunchtime concerts are free to attend or £5 for guests. These monthly concerts are given by students from the nearby Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance.

Lunchtime Concert

Bakehouse Theatre
Friday 24 November
12pm

Our concerts from Trinity Laban students are in the Bakehouse on the last Friday each month during the academic year. Admission is free for Friends and £5 for other audience members.

Opus Quartet

Amadea Topalli, saxophone
Lily Skinner, saxophone
Louis Suc, saxophone
Jake Phillips, saxophone

The Opus Quartet are a vibrant newly formed ensemble from Trinity Laban’s saxophone department. They pride themselves on performing a myriad of different styles ranging from the French classical tradition to more jazz influenced styles and even folk.

Read the programme

The concerts will be back in January.

Odyssey: A Heroic Pantomime

3pm, Tuesday 12 December at the Jermyn Street Theatre
Tickets £27.50

After his monumental victory at the Trojan War, Odysseus begins his epic journey home to Ithica and his wife Penelope. But Poseidon has other plans. So begins this madcap retelling of the greatest story ever told. Join a host of fantastical characters on a mythical, musical and downright ridiculous journey as they battle through sirens and a cyclops. Prepare yourself for a boatload of riotous humour - with apologies to Homer. Homer's epic work is no stranger to modern reinterpretations with a recent musical version at the National Theatre. Jermyn Street, one of our frequent theatre venues, has joined forces with Charles Court Opera, a regular stager of Christmas boutique pantos, to provide a bonkers new take on one of the world's oldest adventures.

If you would like to come with us please email aefriends.theatre@gmail.com

Note you need to be a Friend of Age Exchange

Backstairs Billy

2.30pm, Wednesday 10 January at The Duke of York's Theatre
Tickets £55

It is 1979. Inside Clarence House the Queen Mother's receptions are in full swing and the champagne is flowing. In charge of proceedings is William 'Billy' Tallon, holder of the royal corgis and Her Majesty's loyal servant. Outside, strikes are bringing the country to its knees and Britain is on the brink of seismic change under Margaret Thatcher. These two worlds are about to collide with dizzying consequences. This new comedy from Marcos Dos Santos, directed by Michael Grandage, looks at a tense time in British history.

Working class Billy, recently appointed Steward and Page of the Backstairs, camps it up in tailcoat and starched white shirt among the toffs. Billy joined the royal household aged 15. His 51-year role providing emotional support for the Queen Mother started in 1952 when the death of her husband, George VI, required that she move out of Buckingham Palace.

The Queen Mum is played by Penelope Wilton (Downton Abbey) with Luke Evans (Beauty and the Beast) portraying Billy.

Book now by emailing aefriends.theatre@gmail.com

Note you need to be a Friend of Age Exchange

The Motive and the Cue

2.30pm, Thursday February 8 at the Noel Coward Theatre
Tickets £55

Sam Mendes directs Johnny Flynn as Richard Burton, Mark Gatiss as John Gieldgud and Tuppence Middleton as Elizabeth Taylor in this fierce and funny new play by Jack Thorne. It is 1964. Burton, newly married to Taylor, is to play the title role in an experimental new Broadway production of Hamlet under Guildgud's exacting direction. As rehearsals progress, two ages of theatre collide and collaboration between actor and director soon threatens to unravel. Burton, the blunt Welshman, is determined to show the world that he can scale the heights while Giedlgud, a star in his 20s, is dealing with ageing, loneliness and a feeling of irrelevance. Taylor's film stardom glitters and scares the men. This glimpse into the politics of the rehearsal room and the backstage tensions of the theatre transferred from the National Theatre to the West End in December.

The Motive and the Cue is inspired by Letters from an Actor by William Redfield and John Gielgud Directs Richard Burton in Hamlet by Richard L. Sterne.

If you would like to come with us please email aefriends.theatre@gmail.com

Note you need to be a Friend of Age Exchange