114-635: The Noël Coward Theatre , formerly known as the Albery Theatre , is a West End theatre in St. Martin's Lane in the City of Westminster , London. It opened on 12 March 1903 as the New Theatre and was built by Sir Charles Wyndham behind Wyndham's Theatre which was completed in 1899. The building was designed by the architect W. G. R. Sprague with an exterior in the classical style and an interior in
228-783: A "general utility" actor. He made his professional debut in the small role of a groom in an adaptation of Wilkie Collins 's The Woman in White . As a junior member of Wyndham's company Pinero quickly gained experience in a range of roles, supporting E. A. Sothern in Our American Cousin , and Charles Mathews in the Balzac adaptation A Game of Speculation , and graduating to larger parts such as Crosstree in Black-Eyed Susan . His engagement in Edinburgh came to
342-901: A Camera (1954, 343 performances); a comedy about bigamy, The Remarkable Mr Pennypacker (1955, 421 performances); Leslie Caron in Colette 's Gigi (1956); Under Milk Wood (1956, 250 performances); Summer of the Seventeenth Doll (1957); Charles Laughton in The Party (1958); The Rose Tattoo (1959); Peter O'Toole in The Long and the Short and the Tall (1959); and the Theatre Royal Stratford East 's Make Me an Offer (1959). In June 1960, Oliver! ,
456-502: A West End playwright – achieved fame at an unusually early age: his contemporaries Bernard Shaw , J. M. Barrie and John Galsworthy were all in their thirties before their plays were produced in London. Pinero's other Court farces – The Schoolmistress (1886), Dandy Dick (1887), The Cabinet Minister (1890) and The Amazons (1893) – ran for 291, 262, 199 and 114 performances respectively, an aggregate of 866. Their success
570-865: A brand new production of Euripides' Hecuba starring Vanessa Redgrave . On 8 June 2005, Dion Boucicault 's Victorian melodrama The Shaughraun opened; however, its success at the Dublin Gate Theatre was not repeated in London and it closed on 30 July. A dark period of around three months followed before the theatre was transferred to the ownership of Delfont Mackintosh Limited and reopened in October 2005 with The Right Size 's new production Ducktastic! . Once again this failed to live up to expectations and closed just three weeks after opening on 19 November 2005. A short Christmas season of Patrick Stewart 's one-man version of Charles Dickens ' A Christmas Carol played from 6 to 31 December 2005, before
684-546: A bygone era. For twenty years after his death Pinero's reputation remained in what Dawick calls "a state of near-eclipse". From the 1950s onwards interest in his Court farces grew. In a 1972 study of the playwright, Walter Lazenby wrote, "Pinero cannot be outranked as a farceur by any other English writer; not even Shakespeare consistently expended on this form the care and art which went into the Court Theatre farces or achieved such thoroughly satisfying results". Reviewing
798-660: A different management, Aldous Huxley 's The Gioconda Smile was a success in 1948–49, running for 655 performances. In 1950, The Cocktail Party by T.S. Eliot began a run of 325 performances. From later in the decade, Mander and Mitchenson single out Vivian Ellis 's musical version of J. B. Fagan 's And So to Bed (1951, 323 performances); The Young Elizabeth (1952, 498 performances); Katharine Hepburn in Shaw's The Millionairess (1952); Yvonne Arnaud in Dear Charles (1952, 466 performances); Dorothy Tutin in I Am
912-459: A four-act play The Gay Lord Quex , a comedy of manners, in succession to two others in the genre, The Times (1891) and The Princess and the Butterfly (1897). The Gay Lord Quex , a story of a determined and resourceful young woman and a reformed aristocratic philanderer, had an initial run of 300 performances, and has proved one of Pinero's more revivable plays. In the first decade of
1026-420: A full-time playwright. He first became known for a series of farces , of which The Magistrate (1885) was the longest-running. During the 1890s he turned to serious subjects. The Second Mrs Tanqueray (1893), dealing with a woman with a scandalous past, was regarded as shocking, but ran well and made a large profit. His other successes included Trelawny of the "Wells" (1898), a romantic comedy celebrating
1140-530: A high proportion of straight drama, Shakespeare , other classic plays and premieres of new plays by leading playwrights—for example David Hare 's play Pravda starring Anthony Hopkins which was described by The Telegraph as "one of the biggest hits in the history of the National Theatre." Successful productions from the non-commercial theatres sometimes transfer to one of the commercial West End houses for an extended run. The Royal Opera House
1254-563: A highly successful lawyer. His younger son, Pinero's father, also took up the legal profession, but was much less successful; Pinero was brought up in circumstances that were not poor but were not affluent. He attended Spa Fields Chapel charity school in Exmouth Street, Clerkenwell , London, until the age of ten, when he went to work in his father's office. John Daniel Pinero died in May 1871, leaving very little money. To contribute to
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#17327731093071368-432: A larger parcel of land than he required, and in 1901 he was in negotiations to sell the area he did not need. When negotiations fell through, he decided to build another theatre on the vacant site. This plot fronting on St Martin's Lane is bounded on one side by St Martin's Court, which also runs behind the theatre. While the theatre was in planning and then under construction it was referred to simply as "the new theatre", and
1482-598: A leading light comedian. During the 1950s and 1960s, many plays were produced in theatre clubs, to evade the censorship then exercised by the Lord Chamberlain's Office . The Theatres Act 1968 finally abolished censorship of the stage in the United Kingdom. "Theatreland", London's main theatre district, contains approximately 40 venues and is located in and near the heart of the West End of London . It
1596-592: A modest amount of publicity. His first full-length play, La Comète , was staged in a theatre in Croydon in 1878, and he wrote four more one-act comedies, staged in London in 1878–1880, playing in two of them – Daisy's Escape and Bygones – at the Lyceum. Another of these, Hester's Mystery (1880), written for the comic actor J. L. Toole , ran for 300 performances at the Folly Theatre . Pinero's profile as
1710-491: A national theatre and the reform or abolition of theatre censorship. Shaw conceived the idea that playwrights needed a titled figure to lead their campaigns, and lobbied the British government to secure a knighthood for Pinero. Whether because of Shaw's canvassing or not is unknown, but Pinero was knighted in 1909, only the second dramatist to receive the honour (Gilbert having been knighted two years earlier). Pinero rarely used
1824-531: A period of management at the theatre. He produced and starred in Gordon Daviot 's, Richard of Bordeaux , which ran for 472 performances. He followed this in June 1934 with the same author's Queen of Scots starring Gwen Ffrangcon-Davies , which ran for 106 performances. In November 1934, he presented Hamlet , which ran for 155 performances. After works by Hugh Walpole and Andre Obey , Gielgud presented
1938-584: A play adapted from the novella A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens —who came to several stage rehearsals during which he made suggestions—with his book published weeks earlier in December 1843. The Criterion Theatre opened on Piccadilly Circus on 21 March 1874, and in 1881, two more houses appeared: the Savoy Theatre in The Strand, built by Richard D'Oyly Carte specifically to showcase
2052-675: A playwright was further raised by The Money Spinner , a full-length comedy, first given at the Prince's Theatre, Manchester in November 1880 and then at the St James's in London in January 1881. The theatre historian J. P. Wearing regards the play as of particular importance in the history of the St James's, a theatre previously known more for its failures than its successes. Pinero's play
2166-641: A record-breaking nine Olivier Awards in 2017. "Theatre is such an important part of British history and British culture" —Dame Helen Mirren after receiving the Evening Standard Award in 2013 for her performance as the Queen in The Audience . The following shows are confirmed as future West End productions. The theatre in which they will run is either not yet known or currently occupied by another show. The term "West End theatre"
2280-467: A revival of Romeo and Juliet which had the longest run on record for that play: 186 performances. Peggy Ashcroft played Juliet and Edith Evans was the Nurse; Laurence Olivier played Romeo, and Gielgud Mercutio for the first part of the run and then exchanged roles. Gielgud concluded with Chekhov 's The Seagull , directed by Theodore Komisarjevsky , a production that, according to The Times showed
2394-461: A revival of the melodrama The Bells , with which Irving's name was already synonymous, he played Dr Zimmer (1878). While in Irving's company Pinero wrote his first plays. He began with £200 a Year , a one-act comedy written in a single afternoon for a colleague to present at a benefit performance in 1877. The play was well received and was given several further performances, bringing Pinero's name
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#17327731093072508-466: A run of 88 performances, The Benefit of the Doubt (1895) ran for 74, The Thunderbolt (1908) and Mid-Channel (1909) both ran for 58. The year 1898 saw one of Pinero's most enduring successes and his most conspicuous failure. The first was Trelawny of the "Wells" , the second, The Beauty Stone . In Trelawny of the "Wells" , described by a 21st-century critic as "Pinero's love letter to theatre",
2622-642: A season in 1918–19 in which Katharine Cornell made her only appearance on the London stage, playing Jo in a dramatisation of Little Women . I'll Leave It to You , in 1920, was Noël Coward's first staged play, and ran at the New for 37 performances. Matheson Lang was associated with the New for several years, presenting and playing in Shakespeare and modern dramas. The London premiere of Bernard Shaw 's St. Joan starring Sybil Thorndike followed in 1924. In July 1925, Robert Atkins took over management of
2736-956: A serious bout of influenza, Pinero failed to survive an operation for a hernia . He died on 23 November 1934 in Marylebone Nursing Home. A memorial service was held at St Marylebone Parish Church on 28 November 1934, after which, by Pinero's request, his ashes were buried in his wife's grave in the churchyard of Chiddingfold , Surrey, close to their former country house. The original London productions that were followed by New York productions were: The Money Spinner (New York, 1882); The Squire (1882); Girls and Boys (1883); Lords and Commons (1884); In Chancery (1885); The Magistrate (play) (1885); The Schoolmistress (1886); Dandy Dick (1887); Sweet Lavender (1888); Lady Bountiful (1891); The Cabinet Minister (1892); The Second Mrs Tanqueray (1893); The Amazons (1894); The Notorious Mrs Ebbsmith (1895); The Benefit of
2850-422: A showcase for the popular series of comic operas of Gilbert and Sullivan —was entirely lit by electricity in 1881. The Society of London Theatre (SOLT) announced that 2018 was a record year for the capital's theatre industry with attendances topping 15.5 million for the first time since the organisation began collecting audience data in 1986. Box office revenues exceeded £765 million. While attendance in 2019
2964-549: A social message as they could stomach". Both Pinero and Alexander were apprehensive about the public reception of the piece, but it was a sensational success at its opening in May 1893, made a profit of more than £10,000, and was still playing to full houses when Alexander, who disliked acting in long runs, closed the production in April 1894 after 225 performances. Wearing comments that the public's appetite for similar Pinero plays varied. The Notorious Mrs Ebbsmith (1895) managed
3078-538: A sudden end in February 1875 when the theatre was destroyed by fire. He was fortunate in being offered another provincial engagement, at the Royal Alexandra Theatre, Liverpool , where he began to be noticed by the press, gaining approving reviews for his acting in supporting roles. A production of Miss Gwilt , an adaptation of Wilkie Collins's Armadale , starring Ada Cavendish , was reported by
3192-660: A year. When its star, Arthur Cecil , required a summer break, Beerbohm Tree deputised for him for three weeks. Three touring companies were needed to meet the demand for the play in the British provinces, and local managements in Australia, India and South Africa were licensed to stage it; Pinero travelled to New York for the American premiere, at Daly's Theatre in October 1885. He had turned 30 earlier that year. A retrospective review of his career published in 1928 pointed out that Pinero – who had recently celebrated 50 years as
3306-560: Is Les Misérables , produced by Cameron Mackintosh , which has been running in London since October 1985. It overtook Andrew Lloyd Webber 's Cats , which closed in 2002 after running for 8,949 performances and 21 years, as the longest-running West End musical of all time on 9 October 2006. Other long-runners include Lloyd Webber's The Phantom of the Opera , Willy Russell 's Blood Brothers , and Abba jukebox musical Mamma Mia! which have also subsequently overtaken Cats . However,
3420-512: Is being dusted down, reappraised and hailed as one of the great British playwrights". Four of Pinero's plays have been adapted as musicals: The Magistrate as The Boy (1917) with words by Fred Thompson , Percy Greenbank and Adrian Ross and music by Lionel Monckton and Howard Talbot ; In Chancery as Who's Hooper? (1919) with lyrics by Thompson and music by Talbot and Ivor Novello ; The Schoolmistress as My Niece (1921) with words by Greenbank and music by Talbot; and Trelawny of
3534-794: Is generally used to refer specifically to commercial productions in Theatreland. However, the leading non-commercial theatres in London enjoy great artistic prestige. These include the National Theatre , the Barbican Centre , Shakespeare's Globe (including the Sam Wanamaker Playhouse ), the Old Vic , Royal Court Theatre , Sadler's Wells Theatre , and the Regent's Park Open Air Theatre . These theatres stage
Noël Coward Theatre - Misplaced Pages Continue
3648-637: Is traditionally defined by the Strand to the south, Oxford Street to the north, Regent Street to the west, and Kingsway to the east. However, a few other nearby theatres are also considered "West End" despite being outside the area proper; an example is The Apollo Victoria Theatre , in Westminster . Prominent theatre streets include Drury Lane , Shaftesbury Avenue and the Strand. The works staged are predominantly musicals, classic and modern straight plays , and comedy performances. Many theatres in
3762-693: Is widely regarded as one of the greatest opera houses in the world, comparable with the Palais Garnier and La Scala . Commonly known simply as Covent Garden due to its location, it is home to the Royal Opera , Royal Ballet and a resident symphony orchestra, and hosts guest performances from other leading opera, ballet and performance companies from around the world. In 1735 its first season of operas, by George Frideric Handel , began and many of his English oratorios were specifically written for Covent Garden and had their premieres here. Likewise,
3876-562: The Alice books ) debuted at the Prince of Wales Theatre . Its author Lewis Carroll was involved in the stage adaptation, and he attended a performance seven days later. The Palace Theatre opened in 1891. Opened in 1892, the Duke of York's Theatre debuted J. M. Barrie 's play, Peter Pan, or The Boy Who Wouldn't Grow Up , on 27 December 1904. One of the most popular playwrights in London in
3990-508: The Court Theatre , where five of his farces were presented, with great success at the box office, between 1885 and 1892, beginning with The Magistrate . Wearing writes that in these plays Pinero "attacked facets of Victorian society by creating credible though blinkered characters, trying to preserve their respectability while trapped in a relentless whirlpool of catastrophically illogical events". Pinero told an interviewer that with
4104-559: The Duke's Company and the King's Company . Performances were held in converted buildings, such as Lisle's Tennis Court . The first West End theatre, known as Theatre Royal in Bridges Street, was designed by Thomas Killigrew and built on the site of the present Theatre Royal, Drury Lane . It opened on 7 May 1663 and was destroyed by a fire nine years later. It was replaced by a new structure designed by Christopher Wren and renamed
4218-742: The First World War . In 1930, Laurence Olivier had his first important West End success in Noël Coward's Private Lives . A number of other actors made their West End debut prior to the Second World War, including John Gielgud , Alec Guinness , Vivien Leigh and Rex Harrison ; the latter's performance in Terence Rattigan 's 1936 comedy French Without Tears at the Criterion Theatre established him
4332-536: The Gielgud Theatre . Following a production of Deathtrap , directed by Matthew Warchus and starring Simon Russell Beale and Jonathan Groff , the theatre became the home of jukebox musical Million Dollar Quartet in February 2011. West End theatre West End theatre is mainstream professional theatre staged in the large theatres in and near the West End of London . Along with New York City 's Broadway theatre , West End theatre represents
4446-610: The Lionel Bart musical based on Oliver Twist , was first produced, and ran until September 1966, a total of 2,618 performances. The Times reported that its run had broken the previous West End records – My Fair Lady (2,282) and Salad Days (2,283). The last years of the decade brought shorter runs to the New. They included Jorrocks , a musical (1967, 181 performances); Gwen Watford and Gemma Jones in Howards End (1967, 137); Roy Dotrice playing multiple roles in
4560-724: The London Coliseum is the resident home to the English National Opera . The theatre is also the London base for performances by the English National Ballet , who perform regular seasons throughout the year when not on tour. The Peacock Theatre is located on the edge of the Theatreland area. Now owned by the London School of Economics and Political Science , it is used in the evenings for dance performances by Sadler's Wells , who manage
4674-1011: The Lyric Hammersmith , Theatre Royal Stratford East , Rose Theatre, Kingston , New Wimbledon Theatre , the Rudolph Steiner Theatre in Westminster , the Ashcroft Theatre in Croydon , Secombe Theatre in Sutton , the Churchill Theatre in Bromley and the Hackney Empire in Hackney . London theatres outside the West End also played an important role in the early history of drama schools . In 1833, actress Frances Maria Kelly managed
Noël Coward Theatre - Misplaced Pages Continue
4788-689: The Pavilion Theatre in Whitechapel . The comic theatrical genre the harlequinade was also popular among London audiences. Its most famous performer, Joseph Grimaldi , best known for developing the modern day white-face clown , made his stage debut at Drury Lane in 1780. The West End theatre district became established with the opening of many small theatres and halls, including the Adelphi in The Strand on 17 November 1806. South of
4902-693: The River Thames , the Old Vic , Waterloo Road , opened on 11 May 1818. The expansion of the West End theatre district gained pace with the Theatres Act 1843 , which relaxed the conditions for the performance of plays, and The Strand gained another venue when the Vaudeville opened on 16 April 1870. The next few decades saw the opening of many new theatres in the West End. The Adelphi hosted A Christmas Carol; or, Past, Present, and Future in 1844,
5016-399: The Rococo style. In 1973, it was renamed the Albery Theatre in tribute to Sir Bronson Albery who had presided as its manager for many years. Since September 2005, the theatre has been owned by Delfont-Mackintosh Ltd. It underwent major refurbishment in 2006 and was renamed the Noël Coward Theatre when it re-opened on 1 June 2006. The building is a Grade II Listed structure . The New
5130-442: The Royal Strand Theatre in Westminster where she funded and operated a dramatic school, the earliest record of a drama school in England. In 1840 she financed the Royalty Theatre in Soho which opened as Miss Kelly's Theatre and Dramatic School. There are a number of annual awards for outstanding achievements in London theatre: Arthur Wing Pinero Sir Arthur Wing Pinero (24 May 1855 – 23 November 1934)
5244-507: The Victoria Palace Theatre following the run of Billy Elliot in 2016. The Dominion Theatre refurbishment was completed in 2017 with the unveiling of a new double-sided LED screen, the largest and highest resolution projecting screen on the exterior of a West End theatre. In 2012, gross sales of £529,787,692 were up 0.27% and attendances also increased 0.56% to 13,992,773-year-on-year. In 2013, sales again rose this time by 11% to £585,506,455, with attendances rising to 14,587,276. This
5358-406: The interregnum of 1649. On 24 January 1643, the actors protested against the ban by writing a pamphlet titled The Actors remonstrance or complaint for the silencing of their profession, and banishment from their severall play-houses . After the Restoration (1660), Puritan legislation was declared null and void, and theatre (among other arts) exploded. Two companies were licensed to perform,
5472-436: The "Wells" (1949, 1971 and 1985, Bransby Williams , Roland Culver , Michael Hordern); Dandy Dick (1948, directed by Athene Seyler ) and The Second Mrs Tanqueray starring Elizabeth Sellars (1962). In 1906, The Times commented: By the time of Pinero's death in 1934 the paper had become less enthusiastic. Both The Times and The Daily Telegraph published polite obituaries that respectfully relegated his works to
5586-525: The "Wells" (as The Actress , 1928), The Magistrate (as Those Were the Days , 1934), Dandy Dick (1935), The Enchanted Cottage (1945), and The Second Mrs Tanqueray (1952). There have been many adaptations of Pinero's works for broadcasting. Television versions include The Gay Lord Quex (1946, 1953 and 1983, starring respectively Ronald Ward , André Morell and Anton Rogers ); The Magistrate (1946, 1951 and 1972, Desmond Walter-Ellis , Richard Goolden and Michael Hordern ); Trelawny of
5700-491: The "Wells" as Trelawny (1972), adapted by Aubrey Woods , George Rowell and Julian Slade . The first of Pinero's works to be filmed was The Second Mrs Tanqueray , in an unauthorised American silent version in 1914, which prompted a successful but not very lucrative lawsuit by the author. With his approval, eight of his plays were adapted for the silent cinema, an authorised version of The Second Mrs Tanqueray (1916) with George Alexander in his first film role, reprising
5814-517: The 1880s and 1890s that has endured. There have been numerous revivals of many of his plays; and some have been adapted for the cinema or as musicals. By his later years, Pinero was seen as old-fashioned, and his last plays were not successful. He died in London at the age of 79. Pinero was born in London, the only son, and second of three children, of John Daniel Pinero (1798–1871), and his wife Lucy, née Daines (1836–1905). Pinero's father and grandfather were London solicitors . They were descended from
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#17327731093075928-401: The 1890s, Oscar Wilde , premiered his second comedy, A Woman of No Importance , at Haymarket Theatre in 1893. The subject of widespread public and media interest, Lillie Langtry (an associate of Wilde) made her West End debut in the comedy She Stoops to Conquer in 1881. In 1878, Ellen Terry joined Henry Irving 's company as his leading lady, and for more than the next two decades she
6042-519: The Court, but subsequently became one of Pinero's most revived plays. At the same time the impresario Richard D'Oyly Carte was in need of a new opera for his Savoy Theatre after the end of Gilbert and Sullivan 's long partnership. It is not clear why Carte chose to commission a libretto from two writers with no experience in the genre, but for Arthur Sullivan 's The Beauty Stone he brought together Pinero and J. Comyns Carr , an art critic, gallery owner and part-time author of dramas. Sullivan, who
6156-451: The Doubt (1896); The Princess and the Butterfly (1897); Trelawny of the Wells (1898); The Gay Lord Quex (play) (1900); Iris (1902); Letty (1904); A Wife without a Smile (1904); His House in Order (1906); Mid-Channel (1910); Preserving Mr. Panmure (1912); The "Mind the Paint" Girl (1912); and The Enchanted Cottage (1923). Among the notable British revivals of Pinero plays singled out in John Dawick's 1993 study of
6270-582: The Lyric, after which there were seasons featuring Mrs Patrick Campbell and then Cyril Maude . Fred Terry and Julia Neilson played an annual season of about six months at the New from 1905 to 1913, including many revivals of their great success, The Scarlet Pimpernel . Between these seasons, productions at the New Theatre included Amasis , a comic opera by Frederick Fenn and Philip Michael Faraday (1906), with Ruth Vincent , and Count Hannibal (1910). In 1911, Terry presented As You Like It and Romeo and Juliet to introduce his daughter Phyllis to
6384-561: The Madding Crowd . After leaving Irving's company Pinero joined another well-known London management, Squire Bancroft and his wife Effie , who ran the Haymarket Theatre . For them he played the Marquis de Cevennes ( Plot and Passion , 1881), Sir Alexander Shendryn ( Ours , 1882), Hanway ( Odette , 1882) and finally Sir Anthony Absolute in The Rivals (1884) as part of a starry cast that included Squire Bancroft, Johnston Forbes-Robertson , Lionel Brough and Julia Gwynne . Pinero received mixed notices, some unfavourable, and others among
6498-428: The Man , Shakespeare's Richard III and Chekhov's Uncle Vanya . Between Old Vic seasons, Robert Morley and Wendy Hiller starred in a Regency drama, The First Gentleman , which ran for 654 performances. The 1945 Old Vic company season added Henry IV, Parts I and II and a celebrated double bill of Oedipus and The Critic . In September 1946, King Lear and Cyrano de Bergerac were staged. Under
6612-419: The New Theatre in 1972 for a year, prior to its 1974 run in New York. (Sinden received the 1975 Drama Desk Special Award for the Broadway run.) A revival of Oliver! ran from 1977 to 1980 In 1981, Children of a Lesser God won the Olivier Awards (then known as the Society of West End Theatre Awards) for Best New Play and for actors Trevor Eve and Elizabeth Quinn. Among some of the 1990s productions
6726-504: The New, presenting Israel Zangwill 's We Moderns . The following year and for most of 1927 the New was home to a dramatisation of Margaret Kennedy 's The Constant Nymph , which ran for 587 performances, starring first Coward and then the young John Gielgud as Lewis Dodd. Towards the end of the decade, two comedies by P. G. Wodehouse and Ian Hay – A Damsel in Distress (1928), and Baa Baa Black Sheep (1929) ran for 234 and 115 performances respectively. In February 1933, Gielgud began
6840-404: The Pinheiro family, described by Pinero's biographer John Dawick as "a distinguished family of Sephardic Jews who rose to prominence in medieval Portugal before suffering the persecutions of the Inquisition". Pinero's branch of the family fled to England. His grandfather abandoned the Jewish faith, became a member of the Church of England , married a Christian Englishwoman, Margaret Wing, and became
6954-415: The Theatre Royal, Drury Lane. One of the first actresses on the stage, Nell Gwyn became a star of restoration comedy. Outside the West End, Sadler's Wells Theatre opened in Islington on 3 June 1683. Taking its name from founder Richard Sadler and monastic springs that were discovered on the property, it operated as a "Musick House", with performances of opera; as it was not licensed for plays. In
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#17327731093077068-474: The West End are of late Victorian or Edwardian construction and are privately owned. Many are architecturally impressive, and the largest and best maintained feature grand neo-classical, Romanesque, or Victorian façades and luxurious, detailed interior design and decoration. However, owing to the age of the buildings, leg room is often cramped, and audience facilities such as bars and toilets are often much smaller than in modern theatres. The protected status of
7182-482: The West End, the Theatre Royal Haymarket opened on 29 December 1720 on a site slightly north of its current location, and the Royal Opera House opened in Covent Garden on 7 December 1732. John Gay 's ballad opera The Beggar's Opera ran for 62 performances in 1728, and held the record for London's longest run for nearly a century. It has been called "the most popular play of the eighteenth century." Another musical show, Tom and Jerry, or Life in London (1821),
7296-408: The author addressed his regular topics of class and inexorable change, to which he added a study of the enduring power of the theatre. The play shows a popular actress in mid-Victorian melodramas marrying into the aristocracy, regretting it, returning to the stage and finding that she can no longer make the old style of plays work, successfully switching to works in the new realistic style. Wearing calls
7410-634: The best of his acting career. This was his last professional engagement as an actor. During his time at the Haymarket Pinero married Myra Emily Wood (c. 1852–1919), who had acted under the stage name of Myra Holme, a widow with two children, Angus and Myra, from her first marriage. The wedding took place on 19 April 1883. There were no children of the marriage to Pinero. With the exception of two adaptations of serious French works, The Ironmaster (1884) and Mayfair (1885), Pinero's output between 1884 and 1893 consisted of six farces and five comedies. During this period he became particularly associated with
7524-481: The buildings and their confined urban locations, combined with financial constraints, make it very difficult to make substantial improvements to the level of comfort offered. In 2003, the Theatres Trust estimated that an investment of £250 million over the following 15 years was required for modernisation, and stated that 60% of theatres had seats from which the stage was not fully visible. The theatre owners unsuccessfully requested tax concessions to help them meet
7638-443: The century Pinero continued to be regarded as among the forefront of British playwrights. His comedy of manners Iris (1901) ran for 115 performances, and in 1906 he had one of his biggest successes, with His House in Order , another work for Alexander and the St James's. This piece is a drama about a put-upon second wife who eventually triumphs over the domineering family of her husband's dead first wife and wins his undivided love. It
7752-627: The comedy World War 2 (1967, 166); the Prospect Theatre Company 's production of Farquhar 's The Constant Couple ; Spring and Port Wine ; Paul Scofield in John Osborne 's The Hotel in Amsterdam ; the controversial Soldiers by Rolf Hochhuth in December 1968, and in April 1969 Anne of Green Gables , a new musical with Polly James in the lead. A 1970 Royal Shakespeare Company production of Dion Boucicault 's London Assurance , directed by Ronald Eyre , with Donald Sinden as Sir Harcourt Courtly, Roger Rees as Charles, Judi Dench as Grace and Dinsdale Landen as Dazzle, transferred to
7866-539: The comic operas of Gilbert and Sullivan , opened in October (the first theatre and public building to be lit by electric lights, with The Times recording, "the success of the new mode of illumination was complete, and its importance for the development of scenic art can scarcely be overrated"), and five days later the Comedy Theatre opened as the Royal Comedy Theatre on Panton Street in Leicester Square . It abbreviated its name three years later. On 23 December 1886, Alice in Wonderland (the first major production of
7980-481: The costs. Starting in 2004, there were several incidents of falling plasterwork, or performances being cancelled because of urgent building repairs being required. These events culminated in the partial collapse of the ceiling of the Apollo Theatre in December 2013. Of these earlier incidents, only one led to people being hurt, but at the Apollo 76 people needed medical treatment for their injuries. A number of West End theatres have undergone refurbishments, including
8094-428: The dramatist were: In 2012 The Times remarked on a revival in interest in Pinero, with new productions of The Second Mrs Tanqueray at the Rose Theatre , The Magistrate at the National Theatre, starring John Lithgow in the title role, Trelawney of the "Wells" at the Donmar , and Dandy Dick , with Patricia Hodge and Nicholas Le Prevost . The paper commented, "Like Terence Rattigan in recent years, Pinero
8208-530: The early 19th century, however, music hall entertainments became popular, and presenters found a loophole in the restrictions on non-patent theatres in the genre of melodrama . Melodrama did not break the Patent Acts, as it was accompanied by music. Initially, these entertainments were presented in large halls, attached to public houses , but purpose-built theatres began to appear in the East End , such as
8322-534: The family income, Pinero continued to work as a solicitor's clerk, earning £1 a week. In the evenings he studied elocution at the Birkbeck Literary and Scientific Institution . He and his fellow students staged several productions of plays, and Pinero became irresistibly drawn to the theatre. In May 1874 he abandoned the legal profession and joined R. H. Wyndham at the Theatre Royal, Edinburgh , as
8436-508: The first of his Court farces, The Magistrate , he had tried "to raise farce a little from the low pantomime level". Instead of relying on the Parisian stereotype, revolving around potentially adulterous liaisons, he tried to create believable characters in credible situations. The piece played for 363 performances in its first run, the first play in the history of the Court to run for more than
8550-530: The highest level of commercial theatre in the English-speaking world . Seeing a West End show is a common tourist activity in London . Famous screen actors, British and international alike, frequently appear on the London stage. There are approximately 40 theatres in the West End, with the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane , opened in May 1663, the oldest theatre in London. The Savoy Theatre —built as
8664-530: The laughter is hushed, where smiles give way to tears, and where mirth is merged in heartfelt sympathy". Plays in a similar vein to Sweet Lavender – The Weaker Sex (1888) and Lady Bountiful (1891) – did not match its success, running for 61 and 65 performances respectively. Nonetheless Pinero's attention continued to turn more to serious than to farcical topics. Wearing comments that Pinero began to write "problem plays", considering "the double standard of morality, applied unequally to men and women". His first
8778-485: The libretto as "a verbose mess ... suffused with a fussy air of arch medievalism". At its premiere, on 28 May 1898, the piece ran for four hours, and Pinero and Carr had to accept some drastic cuts to their words, which also meant sacrificing some of Sullivan's best music. The reviews for the music ranged from polite to enthusiastic; for the libretto they ranged from polite to damning. Max Beerbohm , who had succeeded Shaw as theatre critic of The Saturday Review and who
8892-459: The name stuck. The street adjacent to it is called New Row. The theatre, like Wyndham's, was designed by the architect W.G.R. Sprague , and was the thirtieth theatre he designed. A contemporary report described the front elevation as "of the free classic order … at once dignified and effective". As at Wyndhams, the auditorium is constructed on the cantilever principle, rendering columns unnecessary and ensuring unimpeded views. The internal decoration
9006-564: The non-musical Agatha Christie play The Mousetrap is the longest-running production in the world, and has been performed continuously since 1952. Running since 2011, Matilda the Musical , an adaptation of Roald Dahl 's Matilda , won a then-record seven Olivier Awards in 2012. Running since 2016, Harry Potter and the Cursed Child , a two-part play written by Jack Thorne based on an original story by J. K. Rowling , won
9120-669: The outbreak of war the following year appalled Pinero. Following the sinking of RMS Lusitania by a German U-boat on 7 May 1915, he wrote to The Times calling on naturalised British citizens of German origin to make public statements of their loyalty to the King and reject Germany's methods of warfare. In the following days, numerous letters were received by the newspaper from naturalised Britons affirming their loyalty, including public figures such as Sir Ernest Cassel , Sir George Henschel , Sir Carl Meyer and Sir Felix Schuster . Among others who came under public pressure because of
9234-490: The part he created in 1893; Trelawny of the "Wells" (1916); Sweet Lavender (twice: in 1915 and 1920 ); Iris (twice: 1916 and as A Slave of Vanity , 1920); The Profligate (1917); The Gay Lord Quex (twice: 1917 and 1919 ); Mid-Channel (1920); His House in Order (1920) and The Enchanted Cottage (1924). After the days of silent films there were adaptions of His House in Order (1928) Trelawny of
9348-471: The performances range from classic plays, to cabaret, to plays in the languages of London's ethnic minorities . The performers range from emerging young professionals to amateurs. Productions at the Donmar included the 1980 play Educating Rita which starred Julie Walters in the title role before she reprised the role in the 1983 film . There are many theatres located throughout Greater London , such as
9462-405: The play Pinero's homage to Tom Robertson , whose pioneering theatrical realism influenced two generations of writers including W. S. Gilbert and Bernard Shaw as well as Pinero. The critics were confused by the play. Pinero commented that they seemed "divided as to whether the piece is a weak farce or an imperfect realistic drama". It had a good, though not outstanding, run of 135 performances at
9576-595: The play as "among the supreme masterpieces of the theatre". After Gielgud's tenure, there was more Shakespeare at the New: As You Like with Edith Evans and Michael Redgrave ; The Taming of the Shrew with Evans and Leslie Banks ; and Macbeth with Olivier and Judith Anderson (all 1937). During the Second World War , The Old Vic was badly damaged by German bombs, and Sadler's Wells Theatre
9690-413: The play would, and did, end in tragedy. This was his best-known serious work, The Second Mrs Tanqueray (1893). While he was planning it, several plays of Henrik Ibsen were presented in London for the first time, regarded by much of polite society as avant garde , blunt and shocking. Seeing Ghosts led Pinero to reconsider his approach to playwriting, which now seemed old-fashioned by comparison. He
9804-402: The stage. Between then and the First World War , the theatre featured comedies and musical comedies. Dion Boucicault Jr. , became manager in December 1915 and opened with a revival of Peter Pan , revived each Christmas season until 1919. He produced a series of successes including new plays by Somerset Maugham , J. M. Barrie , Arthur Wing Pinero and A.A. Milne . Leon M. Lion presented
9918-899: The supporting cast for Irving's forthcoming provincial tour. Although the tour was uncongenial, and Pinero gathered some highly critical notices, he continued to work as a supporting actor to Irving for five years. He first appeared at the Lyceum , Irving's London base, in December 1876 and played a total of 21 parts there between then and 1881. His Shakespearean roles were Lord Stanley in Richard III (1877), Rosencrantz in Hamlet (1878), Guildenstern in Hamlet (1879), Salarino in The Merchant of Venice (1879), and Roderigo in Othello (1881). In
10032-656: The theatre hosted the Edinburgh International Festival hit drama Blackbird starring Roger Allam . The award-winning play Enron (directed by Rupert Goold, starring Samuel West and Tim Pigott-Smith) transferred here after a sellout run at the Royal Court. The European premiere of the Broadway hit, Avenue Q , started previewing on 2 June 2006 and had its opening night on 28 June 2006, finally closing on 28 March 2009 prior to transferring to
10146-528: The theatre more than the Sadler's Wells companies. The theatre historians Mander and Mitchenson single out productions of The Beggar's Opera , King John . The Cherry Orchard and Hamlet (with Robert Helpmann in the title role). In 1944, with the end of the war in sight, a reconstituted Old Vic company took possession of the New, starring Ralph Richardson , Olivier and Thorndike. The repertory that year comprised Ibsen 's Peer Gynt , Shaw's Arms and
10260-656: The theatre on behalf of the school. There is a great number of stage productions in London outside the West End. Much of this is known as fringe theatre (referred to as Off West End ) which is the equivalent of off-Broadway and off-off-Broadway theatre in New York City. Among these are the Menier Chocolate Factory , Bush Theatre and the Donmar Warehouse . Fringe venues range from well-equipped small theatres to rooms above pubs, and
10374-416: The theatre, old and new, and The Gay Lord Quex , about a reformed roué and a feisty young woman. A venture into opera, with a libretto for The Beauty Stone (1898), was not a success, and Pinero thereafter generally stuck to his familiar genre of society dramas and comedies. Although he continued to write throughout the first three decades of the 20th century and into the fourth, it is Pinero's work from
10488-403: The theatrical paper The Era as "a genuine triumph"; the play transferred from Liverpool to the West End , and Pinero retained his role as an elderly solicitor. The production was not the hoped-for success in London, but Pinero received good notices for his performance, and when the run finished after ten weeks he was immediately engaged by Henry Irving 's manager, Mrs Bateman, as a member of
10602-564: The title, but shortened his signature from "Arthur W. Pinero" to "Arthur Pinero". In the second decade of the century Pinero had his last two real successes. The comedy The "Mind the Paint" Girl ran at the Duke of York's Theatre for 126 performances in 1912, and The Big Drum , his last play for Alexander had 111 performances at the St James's in 1915. The First World War badly affected his wish and ability to write. He had suffered an emotional blow in 1913 when his stepson killed himself, and
10716-499: The war was Shaw, who opposed it strenuously, and was much vilified by the public and even by his colleagues. Pinero refused to join in the chorus of disapproval, and his friendship with Shaw endured, although they saw less of each other after Shaw resigned from the Dramatists' Club under pressure from its pro-war members led by Henry Arthur Jones . Pinero's wife died in 1919, having been an invalid for some time. Although her death
10830-501: Was The Profligate (1889), in which past misdeeds come to haunt a seemingly respectable man. It was chosen to inaugurate the new Garrick Theatre , but the lessee, John Hare, persuaded a reluctant Pinero to tone down the ending to avoid alienating his respectable society audience: in the final version the protagonist does not kill himself, as Pinero had written, but is forgiven by his wife. The play ran for 129 performances. When his next such drama came to be produced Pinero remained firm:
10944-402: Was Shaw. As authors they held very different views of the nature and purpose of drama. Although both addressed social problems in their plays, Shaw, who held that all good art is didactic, concentrated on the problem itself, whereas Pinero focused more on the people affected by it, which Shaw felt weakened the argument. Nevertheless, they were on good terms and both were prominent in campaigns for
11058-430: Was a triumph for Irene Vanbrugh and Alexander in the lead roles, and for Pinero; it ran for 430 performances and took more than £78,000 at the box-office. The alliance between Alexander had by now become a firm friendship, punctuated by occasional arguments between the actor-manager and the author, who became extremely prescriptive about the staging of his plays and the delivery of his lines. Another of Pinero's friends
11172-548: Was an English playwright and, early in his career, actor. Pinero was drawn to the theatre from an early age, and became a professional actor at the age of 19. He gained experience as a supporting actor in British provincial theatres, and from 1876 to 1881 was a member of Henry Irving 's company, based at the Lyceum Theatre , London. Pinero wrote his first play in 1877. Seven years later, having written 15 more, three of them highly successful, he abandoned acting and became
11286-580: Was based on French designs from the 18th century. Over the Proscenium there is a gilt trophy emblematic of peace and music. The New Theatre opened on 12 March 1903 with a brief season consisting of a revival of Rosemary – a play by Louis N. Parker and Murray Carson, starring Wyndham and his partner (later wife) Mary Moore – and a special matinée of Wyndham's best-known production, David Garrick . The following month Johnston Forbes-Robertson transferred his production of The Light that Failed from
11400-697: Was considered the leading Shakespearean and comic actress in Britain. Opened in 1903, the New Theatre debuted The Scarlet Pimpernel in 1905, a play that introduced a heroic figure with an alter ego into the public consciousness. The theatre was renamed the Noël Coward Theatre in 2006 after the playwright Noël Coward . Constructed in 1897, Her Majesty's Theatre hosted a number of premieres, including George Bernard Shaw 's Pygmalion in 1914. The theatre building boom continued until about
11514-576: Was despite slightly fewer performances occurring in 2013. On 16 March 2020, following government advice due to the COVID-19 pandemic , all theatres in the West End were closed until further notice. Theatres in London were allowed to re-open (with social distancing) on 17 May 2021, with full capacity permitted from 19 July. Opening in October 2022, @sohoplace is the first new West End theatre in 50 years. The length of West End shows depends on ticket sales. The longest-running musical in West End history
11628-730: Was down 1.4% compared to the previous year, box office revenues reached a record £799 million. The majority of West End theatres are owned by the ATG Entertainment , Delfont Mackintosh Theatres , Nimax Theatres , LW Theatres , and the Nederlander Organization . Theatre in London flourished after the English Reformation . The first permanent public playhouse, known as The Theatre , was constructed in 1576 in Shoreditch by James Burbage . It
11742-453: Was far from uncritical of Ibsen's plays, but recognised that if he was to be a serious dramatist he must treat social problems and human misconduct frankly. The Second Mrs Tanqueray centred on "a woman with a past". Hare declined to present it, and George Alexander , the actor-manager running the St James's Theatre , to whom Pinero then offered the play, said, "Sorry, I daren't do it". He had second thoughts, and accepted it. The production
11856-437: Was foreseen it caused Pinero deep distress, and after it he was often despondent, despite the devoted attention of his stepdaughter. During the last years of his life Pinero gradually ceased to be a figure of importance in the theatre. After the end of the war he wrote eight more plays; two of them remained unstaged and of the four that were produced in London the longest-running lasted for 64 performances. His heart weakened by
11970-405: Was outstripped by that of the gentler comedy Sweet Lavender , which ran at Terry's Theatre for 684 performances from March 1888 to January 1890. This piece concerns an impoverished clerk, a bibulous but wise barrister, fraudulent bankers, a long-lost sweetheart and happy endings all round. It was billed as "a domestic drama", and was mainly comic, but, The Era reported, "there are scenes where
12084-410: Was regarded as daringly unconventional and a risky venture, but it caught on with the public, particularly for the character Baron Croodle, a "disreputable but delightful old reprobate and card-shark" played by John Hare . The following year Pinero wrote the first of eleven more plays for the St James's, The Squire (1881). It caused controversy by its supposed similarity to Thomas Hardy 's Far from
12198-402: Was requisitioned as a refuge for those made homeless by air-raids. The drama company of the former and the opera and ballet companies of the latter toured nationally throughout the war, and Bronson Albery , stepson of Charles Wyndham through Mary Moore, managing director of the New Theatre, made it available to all three companies as a London base, although in practice the Old Vic company occupied
12312-461: Was scheduled to replace Oscar Wilde 's Lady Windermere's Fan , which also focused on a woman with a far from respectable past. Unlike Pinero's play, Wilde's ended happily, and was seen by the respectable habitués of the St James's as mildly shocking but acceptable. In Pinero's play Paula Tanqueray kills herself. In Wearing's words, "although not as avant-garde as Ibsen's plays, Tanqueray confronted its fashionable St James's audiences with as forceful
12426-575: Was soon joined by The Curtain . Both are known to have been used by William Shakespeare 's company. In 1599, the timber from The Theatre was moved to Southwark , where it was used in building the Globe Theatre in a new theatre district formed beyond the controls of the City corporation. Regarding theatre as sinful, these theatres were closed in 1642 due to the Puritans who would later influence
12540-747: Was the 1994 revival of Turgenev 's A Month in the Country starring Helen Mirren and John Hurt . In the 2000s the theatre played host to several Shakespeare productions including a production of Twelfth Night set in India with an entirely Asian cast. The production played to packed houses and only closed as the Royal Shakespeare Company themselves had exclusive rights to perform their annual London season of Tragedies there. Between December 2004 and April 2005, they presented Hamlet , Romeo & Juliet , Macbeth , King Lear and
12654-447: Was the first London production to reach 100 consecutive performances . Tom and Jerry' s combination of a tour of London interspersed with song and dance, gave rise to numerous similar, loosely constructed entertainments, and "planted the seeds for later musical comedy and revue". The Patent theatre companies retained their duopoly on drama well into the 19th century, and all other theatres could perform only musical entertainments. By
12768-599: Was the second of the three theatres in St Martin's Lane . The Trafalgar Square (now the Duke of York's ) opened in 1892 and the London Coliseum in 1904. The actor-manager Charles Wyndham, who had been based at the Criterion Theatre for more than twenty years, moved in 1899 to the larger Wyndham's Theatre which he commissioned in Charing Cross Road . To build Wyndham's, he had been obliged to buy
12882-499: Was to become a persistent irritant to Pinero, was particularly waspish. Besides the shortcomings of the libretto, the uncomic, romantic style of the piece was not in keeping with the traditions of the Savoy or the expectations of its audience, and the opera closed on 16 July after 50 performances – the worst run for any of Sullivan's operas. Within a year of the disappointment of The Beauty Stone Pinero returned to successful form with
12996-450: Was used to Gilbert's skill and flexibility, quickly found his new collaborators inept: "gifted and brilliant men, with no experience in writing for music, and yet obstinately refusing to accept any suggestions from me as to form and construction". He later wrote in his diary, "heartbreaking to have to try to make a musical piece out of such badly constructed (for music) mess of involved sentences". The musical analyst William Parry describes
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