What to expect

You’re about to buy tickets for Baby, He Loves You – now what?

Thank you so much for considering booking a ticket to see Baby, He Loves You in a pop-up wedding marquee on Stage@TheDock. We can’t wait to welcome you.

We know that some people like to know what to expect before coming to see a show, so we’ve put this guide together to share just that.

If you need any further information, please contact our audience development manager, Jamie Potter.

You can do this by emailing jamie@middlechildtheatre.co.uk or calling him on 07784 785255 during office hours (Tue-Fri, 9am-5pm).

The Venue

Baby, He Loves You is performed inside a wedding marquee on Stage@TheDock, near Bert’s Pizza and the C4DI complex.

The postcode for the venue is HU1 1UU. Stage@TheDock is home to lots of excellent outdoor performances and events and you can find out more about it including pictures on their website.

Stage@TheDock has wheelchair access via a lift, which blue-uniformed volunteers can help guide you to. Once on the ground floor, it has level access throughout. The floor outside of the marquee is wooden and may become slippery when wet, so do take care. However, the inside of the tent is carpeted.

A pop-up bar, run by Taphouse of Humber Street, will serve drinks inside the marquee.

Toilets, including accessible toilets, are available at Nibble, next door to Stage@TheDock. Middle Child will have a key to access the toilets at all time, even when the cafe is closed. Anybody required the toilet during the show will be escorted by two volunteers, while they will remain open pre-show, at the interval and after the performance.

During the show, if you need to leave and head outside for a few moments, you can do so and return indoors when you are ready.

The running time is approximately 2hrs 15mins, including an interval. This has been revised since rehearsals started.

There are many great food and drink outlets close to the venue, on Humber Street and around the Marina, if you wish to eat locally before or after the show.

Seating

Our marquee will have a stage in the centre, with the audience seated at cabaret-style tables around it. There are 24 tables, which each seat five people. When you arrive, we will try and seat your party close together and there is a total capacity of 120 people per show.

Our marquee, tables and chairs are from an actual wedding provider. The chairs we are using are called a “limewash camelot chair” with a cream padded seat. The tables are 120cm in diameter and tall enough to accommodate standard wheelchair users.

Should you be joining us in a wheelchair that is larger than standard, please let Hull Truck Theatre box office know and we will accommodate you.

Tickets

Although this is a Middle Child show performed at Stage@TheDock, we sell tickets through Hull Truck Theatre.

This is because they have a box office system best suited to this kind of show. If you have any questions about your tickets, it’s best to contact the box office at Hull Truck Theatre directly on 01482 323638.

You don’t need to print your tickets and bring them with you – we will have your names on our guestlist. However, it’s useful to have your tickets on your phone to present when you arrive, as people have been known to book under an old name or even for the wrong time.

We’ve tried to keep our tickets as affordable as possible during the cost-of-living crisis, but it’s been a tough journey. Our audience development manager Jamie has written a blog to tell you all about how we’ve chosen our ticket prices.

Story

We understand that some people like to know what happens in the show, so we’ve written a detailed plot summary, including trigger warnings, on a separate page.

Audience “rules”

Middle Child don’t make traditional ‘classic’ theatre, where the audience sit passively in the dark, stay silent and then quietly leave at the end. We want you to feel part of the experience.

During the show, you can laugh along, applaud and cheer where it feels appropriate for you to do so. You can leave at any time and return to the marquee when you’re ready.

If you’re a panto audience go-er, this might be a bit different from the show you normally watch with us, where you cheer the goodies and boo the baddies and shout out during the show. We’d love you to see this one too and experience our other side.

When you arrive

When you arrive on Stage@TheDock, our Middle Child team and blue-uniformed HEY Volunteers will be there to greet you and help you find your way. You will enter Stage@TheDock near Berts Pizza and make your way down the stairs, or in the lift down to the stage, and into our wedding marquee.

Doors open 45 minutes before the advertised start time.

Entrance to the marquee will be via a ‘porch’ tent at one end, which will have a black banner saying ‘Box Office’ on the outside.

When you arrive, there may be a queue of people outside and there will be volunteers to greet you and show you where to go. They may ask you a question about whether you’ve seen a Middle Child show before: we ask this question as we like to know how many people are seeing our work for the first time.

When you enter the marquee, there will be a member of staff who will ask you for the name of the person who booked your tickets, so we can cross you off our guestlist. Once that’s done, you’ll be free to head inside and find a seat. Large groups may be separated and we kindly ask people to take any available seat.

Should you need to stay with your friends, family or essential companion because of an access requirement or the nature of the show’s content, please inform Hull Truck Theatre by commenting in the access requirements box when prompted at checkout.

Who you will meet

You will meet Rachel (she/her), our front of house manager. Rachel will look after audiences at each of our shows. If you have any questions or concerns, please do speak with her.

There will also be a number of HEY volunteers in blue and pink uniforms. They are here to help you find your way and can also answer any questions you may have.

Then there are the people who work at the bar. They will be serving drinks.

Wheelchair users

If you let us know you require a wheelchair space when booking tickets, by adding a note to the access requirements box, we will know to expect you and reserve seats for you.

If you have booked regular tickets but require a wheelchair space, please let the Hull Truck Theatre box office team know.

Access to the stage level of Stage@TheDock, where the marquee will be placed, is via a lift at the south end of Stage@TheDock. This will be signposted and volunteers on hand to direct you.

BSL users

All of the performances on Saturday 27 April are BSL-interpreted by Sarah Cox.

At the time of writing, we are yet to decide where Sarah will be interpreting from, however we will reserve BSL seats with a clear view of Sarah. 

If you let us know that you are a BSL user when booking tickets, we will know to expect you and reserve one of these seats.

If you miss this when booking tickets, please let the Hull Truck Theatre box office team know, by emailing boxoffice@hulltruck.co.uk or calling 01482 323638.