Arts Theatre
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Arts Theatre
London, in Great Newport Street, off St Martin's Lane, opened in 1927 for the production of unlicensed and experimental plays for members only. Seating 347 in an intimate two-tier auditorium, it has a proscenium width of 20ft and stage depth of 18ft. Its first important production, Young Woodley (1928) by John Van Druten, transferred to a commercial theatre, as did several other new plays including Gordon Daviot's Richard of Bordeaux (1932), and Norman Ginsbury's Viceroy Sarah (1934). In 1942 Alec Clunes took over, and for ten years made the theatre a vital centre, producing a wide range of plays and winning for it the status of a ‘pocket national theatre’. Christopher Fry's The Lady's not for Burning had its first performance here in 1948, with Clunes as Thomas Mendip. The theatre changed hands in 1953, but continued to stage new plays, including Beckett's Waiting for Godot (1955) and Anouilh's The Waltz of the Toreadors (1956). Harold Pinter's The Caretaker received its first performance here in 1960. In 1962 the theatre was leased for six months by the RSC for a major experimental season, which included new plays and revivals of Gorky's The Lower Depths and Middleton's Women Beware Women. In 1975 Robert Patrick's Kennedy's Children came to this theatre from the King's Head, Islington, the first Fringe theatre production originating in a public house to transfer to the West End. A double bill by Stoppard, Dirty Linen and New Found Land (1976), ran for four years. John Godber's Bouncers (1986) and Teechers (1988) and the musical A Slice of Saturday Night (1989) all did well. Since 1967 the theatre has been shared with the Unicorn Theatre for Children, which gives afternoon performances. The evening productions are brought in from outside managements.
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Arts Theatre
| Arts Theatre | |
|---|---|
 Arts Theatre in 2011 |
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| Address | Great Newport Street |
| City | Westminster, London |
| Country | UK |
| Coordinates | 51°30′43″N 0°07′39″W / 51.511944°N 0.1275°WCoordinates: 51°30′43″N 0°07′39″W / 51.511944°N 0.1275°W |
| Architect | P. Morley Holder |
| Capacity | 350 |
| Type | West End theatre |
| Opened | 5 June 1913 |
| Production | The Mystery of Edwin Drood |
| www.artstheatrewestend.co.uk | |
The Arts Theatre is a theatre in Great Newport Street, in Westminster, Central London. It now operates as the West End's smallest commercial receiving house.
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Contents
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History
The Arts Theatre seats 350 in a two-tier basement auditorium. It opened on 20 April 1927 as a members only club for the performance of unlicensed plays, thus avoiding theatre censorship by the Lord Chamberlain's office. It was one of a small number of committed, independent theatre companies, including the Hampstead Everyman, the Gate Theatre Studio and the Q Theatre, which took risks by producing a diverse range of new and experimental plays, or plays that were thought to be commercially non-viable on the West-End stage. The theatrical producer Norman Marshall referred to these as ‘The Other Theatre’ in his 1947 book of the same name.
The theatre opened with Picnic a revue by Herbert Farjeon, produced by Harold Scott and music by Beverley Nichols. Its first important production was Young Woodley by John Van Druten, staged in 1928, which later transferred to the Savoy Theatre when the Lord Chamberlain's ban was lifted. In 1938 a four week revival of the Stokes brothers' Oscar Wilde, starring Francis L. Sullivan and produced by Ronald Adam, opened on 25 October. This coincided with a Broadway production of the play. In 1942 Alec Clunes and John Hanau took over running of the theatre, and for ten years produced a wide range of plays, winning a reputation as a 'pocket national theatre.'
In August 1955, Peter Hall, aged 24, directed the English-language premiere of Samuel Beckett's Waiting for Godot at the theatre.[1] This was an important turning point in modern theatre for Britain. Subsequently, from 1956 to 1959, Hall ran the Arts Theatre.
According to Who's Who in the Theatre (14th and 15th editions), between April 1962 and January 1967 the Arts Theatre was known the New Arts Theatre.
From 1967 to 1999, the Arts also became a home for The Unicorn children's theatre under the direction of its founder Caryl Jenner who took over the lease. Meanwhile adult performances continued in the evening, including Tom Stoppard's satirical double-bill, Dirty Linen and Newfoundland which, opening in June 1976, ran for four years at the Arts.
The theatre's lease was taken over by a consortium of UK and US producers in 2000, for a five-year period, and relaunched as a West End Theatre with the anniversary production of Julian Mitchell's play Another Country, directed by Stephen Henry. Notable productions during this time included The Vagina Monologues and Closer to Heaven the Jonathan Harvey/Pet Shop Boys Musical.
In 2011, the theatre was taken over by JJ Goodman, lead by Artistic Director Mig Kimpton. The Arts now operates as the West End's smallest commercial receiving house.
Productions
Recent[2]
- Eve Ferret Sings Again - June 2011
- Bette and Joan - May to June 2011
- Face to Face at the Arts Series with Stephen Mangan - May 2011
- David Wood's Storytime - April 2011
- Eve Ferret Sings - March 2011
- Woody Sez: The Life & Music of Woody Guthrie - Jan to April 2011
- A Guide to Sexual Misery - Jan to April 2011
- Toyer
- Saturday Night
- Shout!
- The Show Girls
- F**king Men
- Hotel Follies
- Catwalk Confidential
- Cymbeline
- A Christmas Carol
- Daisy Pulls It Off
- Nunsense A-Men
- Naked Boys Singing
- A Man of No Importance
- Party
- Oddsocks Present Romeo And Juliet
- Shirley Jones
- Wet Weather Cover
- The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (abridged)
- Lillies on the Land
- The Music of the Blues Brothers - A Tribute
- Park Avenue Cat
Current Production
- A Christmas Carol (10 December 2011 - 14 January 2012)
References
- ^ Hall, Peter (2005-08-24). "Godot almighty". Guardian News and Media Limited. http://arts.guardian.co.uk/features/story/0,11710,1555060,00.html. Retrieved 2007-12-04.
- ^ http://www.artstheatrewestend.com/theatre_hire.aspx
- John Earl and Michael Sell: Guide to British Theatres 1750-1950, pp. 99–100 (Theatres Trust, 2000) ISBN 0-7136-5688-3
Sources
- Norman Marshall, The Other Theatre, John Lehmann, London, 1947.
- J.C. and Wendy Trewin The Arts Theatre, London, 1927-1981 (1986) ISBN 0-85430-041-4
- The Oxford Companion to the Theatre, ed Phyllis Hartnoll, Oxford (1983) ISBN 0-19-211546-4
- Who's Who in the Theatre 17th edition, ed Ian Herbert, Gale (Vols 1 and 2, 1981) ISBN 0-8103-0234-9
External links
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Oxford Companion to the Theatre
The Concise Oxford Companion to the Theatre. © 1996
Oxford University Press.
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