The Sunderland Empire has a capacity of 1869 seats, including 829 seats in the Stalls, 426 seats in the Dress Circle, 396 seats in the Upper Circle and 218 seats in the Gallery. Use our interactive seating plan to view 360 seat reviews and 314 photos of views from seat.
Sunderland Empire Theatre is an early 1900’s theatre located in the heart of Sunderland city centre. Officially opening in July 1907, the venue is the largest theatre in the North East, and has been under the management of the Ambassador Theatre Group since 2010. With a seating capacity of 2,000, the theatre regularly hosts large-scale musicals, opera, ballet, dance and amateur productions. Oscar-winning actress Helen Mirren made her stage debut at the venue in 1967, appearing in David Halliwell’s award-winning Little Malcolm and His Struggle Against the Eunuchs.
Boasting a large, traditionally decorated auditorium with a modern seating rake, Sunderland Empire is built across four tiers; the Stalls, Dress Circle, Upper Circle and Gallery. The Dress Circle and Upper Circle are a similar size with approximately 350 to 400 seats each, whilst the Gallery is the smallest section with just over 200 seats. Views in the Stalls and Dress Circle are good throughout, whilst views from the Upper Circle and Gallery suffer slightly from the steep angle of the seating and distance from the stage.
Good views can be found throughout the Stalls and first two tiers of the Sunderland Empire, with bargains available at the ends of rows and the rear of most seating areas. Sitting in the rear of the Dress Circle and front of the Upper Circle offers great views for a discounted price.
Seats in the mid-front sections of the Stalls and Dress Circle offer the best overall views in the theatre. Seats in the Stalls offer good legroom, therefore sitting centrally in this section offers a perfect balance of view and comfort. For large-scale productions, the front of the Dress Circle offers a fantastic panoramic view that is unobstructed by the low safety rails.
Towards back of upper circle. The seat is in the left hand section so gives a side view. Legroom is ok but not great. The view is distant and majority of stage right is obscured by the curve of the circle. More
Saw The Sound Of Music The Sound Of Music on 11 February 2020
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Seat photo taken whilst leaning forward. Back row of centre section of gallery. Loads of legroom and space for bag etc. If you chose to sit back in your seat you will have a really distant view obstructed by multiple safety rails. However if u lean... More
Saw Thriller Live Thriller Live on 08 February 2020
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Towards the end of the row. Great legroom as no seat directly in front. The view is ok for the price paid for seat but is massively obscured by the overhang from the slips above. Anything happening stage left is completely missed and at times during this... More
Saw The Bodyguard The Bodyguard on 19 November 2019
Thanks, our editors will take a look.
