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This article relies largely or entirely upon a single source. Please help improve this article by introducing appropriate citations of additional sources. (June 2008) |
| Hampstead Theatre | |
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| Fill image | |
| Address |
Eton Avenue
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| City | |
| Designation | RIBA Award 2003 |
| Architect | Bennetts Associates |
| Owned by | Hampstead Theatre Company |
| Capacity | 140-325 seated on two levels 80 seated (Michael Frayn Space) |
| Type | Flexible stage and seating |
| Opened | 2003 |
| Years active | Since 1959 (various locations) |
| www.hampsteadtheatre.com | |
| Coordinates: 51°32′36″N 0°10′27″W / 51.543333°N 0.174167°W | |
Hampstead Theatre is a theatre in the vicinity of Swiss Cottage, in the London Borough of Camden. It specialises in commissioning and producing new writing, supporting and developing the work of new writers. In 2009 it celebrates its 50 year anniversary.
The original theatre (The Hampstead Theatre Club) was created in Moreland Hall in 1959. James Roose-Evans was the first Artistic Director, and the 1959–1960 season included The Dumb Waiter and The Room by Harold Pinter, Eugene Ionesco's Jacques and The Sport of My Mad Mother by Ann Jellicoe. In 1962 the company moved to a portable cabin in Swiss Cottage where it remained for nearly 40 years, before, in 2003, the new purpose-built Hampstead Theatre opened in Swiss Cottage. The main auditorium now seats between 150 and 325 people. The studio theatre, the Michael Frayn Space, seats up to 80 people and hosts Heat&Light, Hampstead Theatre's Young Company for ages 10-25. Heat&Light produces 12 productions each year, including, previously, new plays by Bola Agbaje, Mike Bartlett, Joel Horwood, Jane Bodie, Ed Hime, Nick Grosso and John Donnelly.
As part of its commitment to developing new writers and new writing, the theatre nurtures and commissions playwrights, and also hosts regular Start Nights, where extracts of new plays are performed to an audience who give their constructive feedback on what they have seen.
Artistic directors
- James Roose-Evans (1959-1971)
- Vivian Matalon (1971-1973
- Michael Rudman (1973-1978)
- David Aukin (1978-1984)
- Michael Attenborough (1984-1988)
- Jenny Topper (1988-2003)
- Anthony Clark (since 2003)
Playwrights
Playwrights who have had their early work produced at the theatre include:
- Simon Block
- Michael Frayn
- Brian Friel
- Terry Johnson
- Hanif Kureishi
- Mike Leigh
- Abi Morgan
- Rona Munro
- Tamsin Oglesby
- Harold Pinter
- Philip Ridley
- Saman Shad
- Shelagh Stephenson
- debbie tucker green
- Crispin Whittell
- Roy Williams
External links
- Hampstead Theatre Official website
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