Dominic Cooke and Kate Horton launch their company Fictionhouse with a new West End production of C. P. Taylor’s GOOD, starring David Tennant, Fenella Woolgar and Elliot Levey. Produced by Fictionhouse and Playful Productions, GOOD will play at the Playhouse Theatre for a strictly limited season from Tuesday 6th October (Press performance Wednesday 14th October). John Halder is a good man. But John Halder must adapt to survive. How is it possible to be a good person when things are … [Read more...]
Playhouse Theatre London Tickets - News & Reviews
The PLAYHOUSE THEATRE

The Royal Avenue Theatre had its first production on the 11th March 1882 with a revival of Offenbach’s Madame Favart. The prefix “Royal” was very soon dropped from the theatre’s name. Comic operas, burlesques and similar shows remained the main source of entertainment for several years. For much of this time, Arthur Roberts, a very popular star of music halls led the company at the Avenue Theatre.
In the early 1890s the emphasis of productions changed to drama and in 1894 Miss Horniman, the tea heiress, later a pioneer of the repertory movement, anonymously sponsored actress Florence Farr in a season of plays. Unfortunately, the first production wasn’t successful, however Miss Farr persuaded her friend, George Bernard Shaw, to complete his play, Arms and the Man, as a quick replacement which resulted in his first West End production.
It was enough to convince him to drop his music critique in favour of play writing. The theatre re-opened as The Playhouse Theatre on 28th January 1907 with a one-act play called The Drums of Oudh together with a play called Toddles, by Tristan Bernard and Andre Godferneaux. Since that time the Playhouse has hosted the likes of W S Gilbert, legendary actress-manager Gladys Cooper, the BBC, The Almeida Theatre Company, The Peter Hall Company, and Janet McTeer. In January 2003, Maidstone Productions took over the ownership of the Theatre.
Maidstone Productions, owned by London and Broadway producers Ted and Norman Tulchin, has been behind a number of hit productions on both sides of the Atlantic. In March 2003, the Ambassador Theatre Group took over the ownership of the Playhouse Theatre.
The Jamie Lloyd Company Announces A Doll’s House – London West End
The Jamie Lloyd Company, the hugely successful partnership between the UK’s leading theatre company Ambassador Theatre Group (ATG) and Artistic Director Jamie Lloyd, in association with British Airways, today announce two-time Academy Award nominee and Golden Globe Award-winner Jessica Chastain is to make her UK theatre debut leading the company of Henrik Ibsen’s A Doll’s House, in a version by Frank McGuiness. The production is part of a new season directed by Jamie Lloyd at the Playhouse … [Read more...]
The Jamie Lloyd Company announces Cyrano de Bergerac
THE JAMIE LLOYD COMPANY ANNOUNCES CYRANO DE BERGERAC STARRING JAMES MCAVOY AS THE OPENING PRODUCTION IN NEW WEST END SEASON. The Jamie Lloyd Company and Ambassador Theatre Group, supported by British Airways, offer 15,000 free tickets to first-time theatregoers and 15,000 £15 tickets for under 30s, key workers and those receiving job seeker’s allowance and other government benefits The Jamie Lloyd Company, the hugely successful partnership between the UK’s leading theatre company … [Read more...]
Review of Fiddler on the Roof at the Playhouse Theatre
It is hardly the salient point in a musical where Russian Jews are singing their stories in English in the first place, but I do wish this cast of Fiddler on the Roof had followed Andy Nyman’s Tevye in being consistent in using one accent for their character throughout the evening. I hasten to add that most of them do. The occasional slips into RSC or RADA-style dulcet tones would have been fine (at least for me) if they had been maintained from start to finish. But then, as the story goes, this … [Read more...]
Maria Friedman and Anita Dobson join the cast of Fiddler on the Roof
Chocolate Factory Productions, Sonia Friedman Productions and Michael Harrison present The Menier Chocolate Factory production of FIDDLER ON THE ROOF. Book by Joseph Stein Music by Jerry Bock Lyrics by Sheldon Harnick Director Trevor Nunn; Choreographers Jerome Robbins & Matt Cole; Set Designer Robert Jones Costume Designer Jonathan Lipman; Lighting Designer Tim Lutkin; Sound Designer Gregory Clarke Hair and Wig Designer Richard Mawbey; Orchestrations Jason Carr; Musical Supervisor Paul … [Read more...]