We want to make your visit to Z-arts as enjoyable as possible and try our best to cater to everyone’s needs. You know your child and family and we know the programme. We will tell you as much as you need to know and you can make the decision if this is for you. Take a read of the information below or contact us to discuss your specific requirements – we are always happy to help!
If you have a good idea or a specific need, let us know! We’re open to change.
If there’s anything we can do to assist you during your visit, please contact our box office at boxoffice@z-arts.org or 0161 226 1912 and we’ll do everything we can to make your visit as hassle-free as we can!
Our Building
- Our building can be a bit of a maze – it’s super old! Come and chat with our Box Office staff when you visit, they can help you find the best way around the building for you and your family.
- Box office access is street-level with a ramp to the desk. Z-café is accessible via our outdoor lift or via the ramp from our Box Office Entrance. Z-café has an Accessible loo, and an access pack for food and drinks assistance if required.
- We have larger changing mats in our Family Bathrooms as well as dropped sections on our Box Office and Z-cafe counters. If you require ear defenders you can get these from our Box Office.
- We have lifts to all the different floors across Z-arts – trust us, there are lots of them! We have evacuation chairs on the first floor to assist with evacuation if necessary and your preferred means of evacuation can be discussed with you on arrival.
Coming to see a show?
- The front row of our standard theatre seating is our accessible area, these seats have step-free access from Z-café. Each show will have an allocation for wheelchairs.
- The width of our standard seat is 40cm wide with a gap of 25cm between the front edge of the seat and the seat in front.
- Please note that some shows use a non-standard layout such as rugs on the floor, planets or magic carpets! The layout will be detailed on the individual event page.
- We also have a personal induction loop system and headsets that can be used by those who are hard of hearing.
- We try to make all of our shows as relaxed as possible. You are free to come and go as you need to, and the actors and artists we work with know that our audiences might make some noise.
- Sometimes we do have Relaxed Performances designed for those who will benefit from a more relaxed performance environment. These usually, but not always, include reduced capacities, and changes are made to the sound and light levels or maybe more – full detail of Relaxed Performances will always be put on the show’s webpage which can be found here.
Tickets
- Anyone who requires an Essential Companion/carer can bring one for free. Unlike other theatres we don’t have a dedicated ‘spot’ for wheelchairs users, we need to remove certain seats in order to give you enough room. Because of this wheelchair spaces need to be booked over the phone or via email at boxoffice@z-arts.org. We’re super sorry about this and are trying to improve the process for everyone!
- Assistance animals are always welcome. We don’t need an excuse to welcome our furry friends into the building!
Latecomers
- We’re aware that getting little ones to sit down and be silent is a near-impossible task at times!
- So for all of the children’s shows in our programme we allow latecomers. Families are free to nip out and come back in if some time outside would be helpful or an emergency loo trip is required! We aim to make things as easy as possible so everyone, big or small, has a great day.