The Painters Seoul tickets: how to book

What you are booking

The listing sells a seat at The Painters, a wordless live-art show that runs 75 minutes. It is staged at Kyunghyang Art Hill, 3 Jeongdong-gil in Jung-gu, and the ticket booth is in the first-floor lobby. The show's own site calls this its Gwanghwamun theatre and names the current production THE PAINTERS Season 2. The ticket is valid only for the date and time slot you choose, and a Lotte Mart voucher comes with it. The listing does not show a seat category or a seat number.

• One ticket, one chosen date and time slot
• Lotte Mart voucher included
• Meeting point: the lobby ticket booth, first floor
• Arrive 15 minutes before the show

What the show is, and who makes it

The Painters is made by Pentatonic, a Korean performance and exhibition production company that says it was established in 2007; the show premiered in 2008, according to the company's own site. The Kyunghyang Art Hill run is listed as open-ended, starting in 2022. On stage, artists make pictures in front of you, with K-pop-style dance and media art around them. The official site names seven kinds of scene, including light carving, speed drawing and marbling, and our practical guide describes them. This site is an independent booking guide, not the production company.

Read next: The Painters Seoul: plan your visit

Two Seoul theatres, one show

The Painters plays in two Seoul theatres, and they are different addresses. Kyunghyang Art Hill is the one on Jeongdong-gil. The second, NH Art Hall on Tongil-ro, is listed on the official site as its Seodaemun theatre. This listing's meeting point is Kyunghyang Art Hill, so that is where your voucher sends you. The official FAQ says both theatres can be reached from Seodaemun Station on Line 5, so check the address on your confirmation before you leave rather than navigating to the station name alone.

Booking here or on the official site

The official site sells the same show. It says you can book without signing up, choose your own seat and pay no booking fee. Booking here gives you free cancellation up to 24 hours before for a full refund, reserve now and pay later, and a listing in English with verified reviews. The trade-off is seat choice: this listing does not offer it. If where you sit matters most, book on the official site. If a flexible plan matters most, book here. Both end the same way, with a ticket collected at the theatre.

Seat grades

The Korea Tourism Organization's listing for the show names three seat grades: VIP, R and S. The official site publishes a seating plan for the theatre, and its own booking lets you select a seat. The listing here does not say which grade its ticket belongs to, so you cannot pick a row from this page. If you have a strong view about where to sit, for example close to the drawing, use the official site. If you are happy with whatever you are given, the simpler booking here is a reasonable choice. Either way, the grade name is only a label: none of the sources we checked describes the sightlines from each grade, so we do not rank them.

Cancelling and changing plans

Booked through GetYourGuide, you can cancel up to 24 hours before for a full refund. Your voucher is valid only for the date and slot you picked, so if your plans move, cancel and rebook for the new slot. Booking direct works differently. The official cancellation page, which is in Korean, sets no fee until 10 days before. After that it deducts 10, 20 and then 30 percent of the payment as the date nears, and it does not allow cancellation on the day. Terms can change, so read the current page before you pay.

Choosing a date and time slot

The show runs more than once a day, and the booking calendar shows the slots open on your date. Your confirmation shows the time, so rely on that rather than any time you read elsewhere: schedules differ between listings and can change. The official site says its ticket box opens one hour before each performance, and this listing asks you to arrive 15 minutes before the show. Plan to reach the lobby with a little time in hand, so you can find the booth and collect your ticket without hurrying.

The Painters or NANTA?

NANTA premiered in Seoul in 1997. Its comedy is built on kitchen tools played as percussion, using rhythms from the traditional samul nori music, according to Wikipedia, and its official site lists shows in Myeongdong and Hongdae. The Painters has a different subject: you watch pictures being made. NANTA is almost entirely non-verbal, and The Painters, its official site says, speaks no words, so language does not decide the choice. Taste does. Pick NANTA for rhythm and slapstick, and The Painters for colour, dance and drawing.

Read next: Korea's Nonverbal Show Genre, and Where The Painters Fits

Booking for a group

The official site handles groups of 20 or more, and companies or events that want the whole theatre, through its group page and by email. A family or a small group of friends can use the booking here: choose the number of tickets in the calendar and check that your slot has enough availability. This listing does not show seat selection, so if your group needs to sit together, ask the show before you book. The official site lists [email protected] for enquiries.

Before you pay: a short checklist

A few details are worth checking on the booking page before you confirm, because they are the ones that change what you can do on the day. None of them takes long to read, and several are easy to miss: the meeting point and the age rule appear under the important information, not in the headline details, and the slot you pick is the only one your voucher will work for.

• The meeting point reads Kyunghyang Art Hill, 3 Jeongdong-gil
• The slot is the one you want; the voucher is valid for that slot only
• Children: free for ages 2 to 3, and under-2s are not permitted on this booking
• Cancellation: free up to 24 hours before when booked here
• The Lotte Mart voucher is a separate extra, so read its own terms

Who this isn't for

This booking is not ideal if you want to pick your exact seat, because the listing does not offer it. It is not for travellers who want a story told in words, since the show uses none. It does not suit a family travelling with a baby under 2, who are not permitted on this booking. And it is not a guarantee of a keepsake: the listing promises a chance to take home one of the paintings made on stage, not a painting for every ticket-holder.