A theatre ticket is a perfect gift for people who would rather ‘be’ than ‘have’. Usually it is attractive in its own right. Nevertheless, you may still present it in a creative way.
Buying theatre tickets
Since I moved to Warsaw, I have tried to make use of its rich cultural offer. What I enjoy most are theatre plays, in particular those with a lot of music. Tickets for most of them are not difficult to come by. While it is true that tickets to the Roma Music Theatre have to be booked several months in advance, each musical is played for up to two years, so it is hardly possible to miss a show. It is much more difficult to watch a desired play in the Teatr Wielki – Polish National Opera. Shows are repeated periodically, but each of them is only played a few nights a year. Moreover, already at the beginning of the season, most of the seats are already booked. Hence, acquiring a ticket borders on the miraculous.
A theatre ticket for the ‘Nutcracker and the Mouse King’
You can only imagine my delight at finding theatre tickets for the ‘Nutcracker and the Mouse King’ ballet among my Christmas presents one year. Usually this play was only performed just after Christmas, when I was celebrating with my family far from the capital, so I was never able to see it. This time, an additional show was planned for 3 January, and my wonderful Husband was vigilant enough to buy tickets before they were all sold out.
What did my theatre ticket look like?
Although I was already delighted at the perspective of seeing a ballet I have dreamed of for so long, I could not overlook the meticulously executed attachment to the ticket. On a separate piece of paper, my Husband printed Russian stamps inspired by the ‘Nutcracker’ and added a short history of this ballet written with… Cyrillic script! The idea was not incidental since that year we had decided to learn to read the Russian alphabet. Russian philologists would probably clutch their head at the sight of a text consisting of Polish words with letters substituted by Russian letters, but I had great fun, trying to decipher what my dear Husband wanted to convey.
Theatre ticket for ‘Peter Pan’
On a different Christmas, I received an envelope addressed to me on the Wonderful Stories Street in Fairytalersaw in the Land of Dreams. Its sender lived on the Fairy Dust Street at the Tree Top in Neverland. Wildly excited, I opened… a letter from Peter Pan, who invited me to Studio Buffo for joint adventures in Neverland. He also begged me to take along my husband 😉 The letter was adorned with photos advertising the show and quotes from my favourite childhood story.
How to present a theatre ticket attractively?
While regular tangible presents are wrapped in gift paper and tied with a ribbon, tickets look best in an envelope that contains something more.
- If you enjoy creative writing, you may write a short story to accompany the theatre ticket. It may be about your struggles to acquire the ticket, the history of the performance or the adventures of the recipient with the play’s protagonists.
- If the ticket concerns an opera or a ballet, you may add a libretto, which the recipients will need to read anyway. This way you will save them the trouble of looking for it and make them even more eager to watch the play.
- If you are good at drawing or creating computer graphics, you may design your own, additional theatre ticket (e.g. with the photo of the recipient), which will serve as a beautiful souvenir after the show.
If you happen to be in Warsaw and would like to visit a theatre, I recommend both ‘Peter Pan’ in Studio Buffo and ‘The Nutcracker and the Mouse King’ in the Polish National Opera. I was also not disappointed by ‘The Swan Lake’ and ‘The Haunted Manor’. If you have been to plays anywhere in the world that are worth recommending, please write about them in the comments below!
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My advice:
– If you are not sure about the artistic taste of the other person, buy them a gift voucher. Such vouchers are offered by several theatres in Warsaw, e.g. my favourite two musical theatres: ROMA (Musical Gift Card) and Buffo (open ticket).
– Naturally, not all cities have their own theatre. Instead of a theatre ticket you may just as well give someone a ticket for an event (e.g. a concert) or a cinema ticket (some multiplex cinemas also offer vouchers, e.g. Cinema City).
– Note, however, that when you buy tickets for a chain of cinemas, you need to if the voucher can be used in the recipient’s city of residence.
– When you buy a ticket for a specific date, make sure that the recipient doesn’t have any plans for that day. If it is not for the love of your life, avoid buying theatre tickets for the Valentine’s Day or major feasts.
– Tickets for the ‘Nutcracker’ are no longer available for this year. If you want to visit Teatr Wielki – Polish National Opera in winter, it is best to book tickets at the turn of October. Nevertheless, there are still tickets for spring shows, e.g. for ‘The Taming of the Shrew’, an amusing comedy ballet.
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