Playhouse Theatre Northumberland Ave London WC2N 5DE
The PlayHouse Theatre was known as the Royal Avenue Theatre. It opened on 11th March 1882 with a revival of Offenbach's "Madam Favart". For several years, only comic operas, burlesques and the like were the only attachments to this theatre. Although the prefix "Royal" was soon dropped from the theatre's name.
A popular star of the music halls, Arthur Roberts led the company at the Avenue. The early 1890s the emphasis of the theatre changed from comedy to drama. 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. Unfortunately, the first production failed. However, 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. This time it was successful and he started play writing instead of music criticism.
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.
In March 2003, the stewardship of the Playhouse Theatre was taken over by the Ambassador Theatre Group. They alongwith Maidstone Productions are taking care of the management and programming of the theatre. Some recent productions on Playhouse Theatre include Richard Eyre's production “Vincent in Brixton” starring Clare Higgins and "Journey's End" directed by David Grindley. Nearest Tube : Embankment Tube Distance : 5 minutes walk Train Station : Charing Cross Car Park : MasterPark Trafalgar Square Map : Click Here
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