Theatre Information for Playhouse Theatre
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Playhouse Theatre details
Address:
Playhouse Theatre
Northumberland Avenue
WC2N 5DE
Theatre location
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Seating plan
Playhouse Theatre
Nearest tube
Embankment / Charing Cross
Playhouse Theatre History
The Royal Avenue Theatre opened on the 11th March 1882 with a revival
of Offenbach''s Madam Favart. The prefix "Royal" was soon dropped from
the theatre''s name, but comic operas, burlesques and the like remained
the staple fare for several years. For much of this time, Arthur
Roberts, a popular star of the music halls, led the company at the
Avenue. In the early 1890s the emphasis changed to drama and in 1894
Miss Horniman, the tea heiress, later a pioneer of the repertory
movement, anonymously sponsored the actress Florence Farr in a season
of plays. Sadly, the first production failed but Miss Farr persuaded
her friend, a certain George Bernard Shaw, to finish his play, Arms and
the Man, as a speedy replacement and his first West End production. It
was successful enough to allow him to drop his music criticism in
favour of play writing. Since then, the beautiful Playhouse has hosted
the likes of WS Gilbert, legendary actress-manager Gladys Cooper, the
BBC, The Almeida Theatre Company, The Peter Hall Company, and Janet
McTeer.
In January 2003, Maidstone Productions became the new independent
owners of the Theatre. Maidstone Productions, belonging to London and
Broadway producers Ted and Norman Tulchin, has been behind a string of
hit productions on both sides of the Atlantic, including Gagarin Way,
Eden and Vincent in Brixton in the West End; Yazmina Reza''s The
Unexpected Man, as well as Donald Margulies'' Dinner with Friends, which
won the Pulitzer Prize. This was in addition to Turgenev''s Fortune''s
Fool on Broadway, starring Alan Bates and Frank Langella, both winning
Tony Awards for best actor and best supporting actor.
In March 2003, the Ambassador Theatre Group took over the stewardship
of the Playhouse Theatre and is responsible for the theatre''s
management and programming, working with Maidstone Productions and the
team at the theatre.Recent productions include Richard Eyre''s
production Vincent in Brixton starring Clare Higgins and Journey''s End
directed by David Grindley.
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