Benedict Cumberbatch in After the Dance / photo by Johan Persson
We only found out about it recently and after 90 minutes queueing in the rain this morning, we thought we'd share. At 9.30am the National releases a number of £10 tickets for each performance of that day's shows (around 30 seats in the Olivier and Lyttelton, 20 for the Cottesloe) then, when the seats are sold out, £5 standing tickets are made available (about 26 for the bigger auditoriums). If you're too slow off the mark for the big shows or a bit short of cash, it's an excellent way to bag tickets.
A word of warning though - we got to the National at 8am and only just managed to snaffle the last two standing tickets for tonight's performance, and that was with a matinee to help mop up demand. The girl at the front of the queue got there at 6am... It's not usually this extreme, but if you want to see Sherlock on stage, you're going to have to set your alarm early.