NANTA Tickets: Myeongdong or Hongdae?

What you are booking

This is a ticket to the NANTA show and nothing else. The booking lists one inclusion, the ticket. No tour, meal or transfer is part of it. NANTA is a non-verbal comedy performed on kitchen equipment, and the producer, PMC Production, is also the activity provider. The show runs about one and a half hours. You reserve now and pay later, and cancellation is free up to 24 hours before when you book through GetYourGuide. Infants under 1 year old are not admitted. The meeting point depends on the option you pick, because each option belongs to one of two theatres. Dates and start times appear when you check availability, so this guide gives none.

Myeongdong or Hongdae?

NANTA runs at two Seoul theatres, in two different districts. Myeongdong is the older, open since 2009, on the third floor of the UNESCO Building. Hongdae opened in 2015, on the second basement level of a building in Mapo-gu. Both stage NANTA, and the theatre's pages describe them in nearly the same words. Choose by your dates and by where you are staying. Myeongdong's regular weekly pattern covers every day and includes later evening shows. Hongdae's pattern is shorter and has no late show. If your dates are fixed, or you want an evening performance, start with Myeongdong.

• Myeongdong: UNESCO Building, 3rd floor, Jung-gu
• Hongdae: basement level 2, Mapo-gu
• Myeongdong runs a seven-day pattern; Hongdae runs a shorter week

Read next: Pairing NANTA With a Myeongdong Evening Out

Check the venue before you pay

The two theatres are not interchangeable. They are different venues, and if you go to the wrong theatre, refunds and changes are not possible. Two details make a mix-up easy. The Myeongdong NANTA Theater is not the Myeongdong Arts Theater, a separate theatre nearby, and the theatre's own directions to Myeongdong even tell you to turn left at the Myeongdong Theatre, which is not the NANTA theatre. And Hongdae is a district name, while the NANTA theatre there is below ground. Copy the address from your confirmation into your map app before you leave: 26 Myeongdong-gil for Myeongdong, 29 Yanghwa-ro 16-gil for Hongdae.

Seat classes: VIP, S and A

The theatre sells three classes, VIP, S and A. Its public pages price them separately but do not describe which seats each class covers, so treat any claim about the best seat with care. Before you pay, look at what the booking step shows for each class and choose by how close you want to be. The theatre does not say which seats are used for audience participation. Its site says any audience member can take part, so a front seat does not guarantee a role.

Booking here or on the theatre's own site

You can also book straight from the theatre, which runs its own website. The rules there are worth knowing before you compare. Booking here, you reserve now and pay later, and the cancellation deadline is 24 hours before. The theatre's own terms use the same deadline and accept no cancellations, refunds or changes after it. Discounts shown on the theatre's site apply only to purchases made there.

• Direct: you create an account and sign in before ordering
• Direct: Visa, MasterCard, JCB and Diners are accepted, American Express is not
• Direct: online sales close two hours before the show
• Direct: collect your ticket from one hour before, with your reservation number or ID
• Here: reserve now, pay later, free cancellation up to 24 hours before

Dates and the weekly pattern

This guide gives no start times, because the booking calendar and your confirmation show them. What the theatres publish is a regular weekly pattern, and they say it is subject to operational change. Each theatre's monthly calendar lists every performance and shows which cast plays it. The calendar can differ from the regular pattern, so choose a date from the live calendar and not from a rule of thumb. Myeongdong's pattern includes weekday evenings and a Sunday and holiday pattern of its own. Hongdae's published pattern is Wednesday to Sunday.

Collecting your ticket and arriving

Your confirmation tells you how to get in. For tickets bought from the theatre, the rule is to collect them at the ticket box from one hour before the show and to show your reservation number or ID. A discounted ticket needs the proof the discount asks for, or you pay the difference. Arrive on time. Latecomers are shown to their seats by an usher and can be placed in a different section from the one they booked. Once the show has begun, entry can be limited if there is no room for late seating. Neither theatre has parking, so use public transport.

Who is on stage

The theatre's cast sheet names the roles: Manager, Head Chef, Spicy, Tough Guy and Nephew. That fits the story, which follows a kitchen team and a manager's nephew. Performers are grouped into colour teams, and the monthly calendar shows which team plays which performance. The theatre states that actors are subject to change, so you cannot book a particular performer. The board in the photo lists performers under colour headings in the same way.

Other NANTA theatres

The ticket here is for Seoul only. NANTA also has a theatre on Jeju island, and the theatre's own About page lists a fourth in Bangkok. Those are separate venues with their own schedules, and neither is an option on this booking. Always match the address on your confirmation to one of the two Seoul theatres above, and do not rely on the name of a neighbourhood.

Who this isn't for

If you need a specific performer, a guaranteed seat position or a guaranteed part in the audience games, NANTA cannot promise any of them. If you are travelling with a baby under 1 year old, the booking does not admit infants. If you want live singing or a spoken story, this is not that show: it runs on drumming and physical comedy and is almost entirely wordless. And if you would rather decide on the day, the theatre says seats still available can be bought at the venue, but nothing guarantees any will be left.