Playhouse Theatre
Venue Information
- How to book (Phone)
- 0333 009 5399
- [email protected]
- Guide dogs
- Guide dogs are permitted in the auditorium at the end of a row in the stalls. Staff are happy to dog sit during the performance
- Wheelchairs
- There is an access toilet in the foyer, adapted for wheelchair use. Non-adapted toilets are in the Basement Bar, Dress Circle, and Upper Circle. There are wheelchair spaces at rows G and J in the Stalls - a companion can sit in next to the customer. There are a further 6 transfer spaces available. Scooters & wheelchairs will be stored in rear stalls. There are bars in the foyer, basement, dress and upper circles.
- Sound amplification
- Induction Loop & Sennheiser Infrared
- Audio description
- There are 3 steps into foyer through double doors - a ramp is available. The Box Office is to your left. There are no further steps into Stalls seating.
- Street to foyer
- Ramp
- Foyer to seat
- Level access to Stalls, 28 steps to Dress Circle and 82 to Upper Circle
- Level access
- To stalls
- Bars
- Toilets off the stalls bar, the Dress Circle and the Upper Circle. No steps from Stalls to foyer bar (no seating). Stalls bar (moveable seats, tables) down 29 steps from foyer. Further bars at the back of the Royal Circle (bar stools) and at the Upper Circle (bar stools). Refreshments can be brought to customers in the auditorium - please book in advance.
- Toilets
- Mens and Womens throughout. There is an access toilet in the foyer, adapted for wheelchair use
- Parking
- Air conditioning
- Yes
- Accepts Theatre Tokens
- Yes
The Royal Avenue Theatre opened on this site in March 1882 with a revival of Offenbach’s Madam Favart. The ‘Royal’ was soon dropped from the 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.
The theatre was re-built and re-opened as the Playhouse Theatre in January 1907 with a one act play called The Drums of Oudh and a play called Toddles, by Tristan Bernard and Andre Godfernaux.
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.
The Ambassador Theatre Group have maintained stewardship of the Playhouse Theatre since 2003 and have recently acquired 100% ownership. Recent productions include Richard Eyre’s production Vincent in Brixton starring Clare Higgins and Journey’s End directed by David Grindley. The theatre has most recently been home to La Cage Aux Folles, Dreamboats & Petticoats, The Mystery of Charles Dickens – Simon Callow’s one man show.