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     London Theatre Tickets » List of London Theatres » Playhouse Theatre » History
Playhouse Theatre - Information & History
The Playhouse theatre is situated on Northumberland Avenue, just to the rear of Charing Cross railway station. The Playhouse first opened its doors on the 11th of March 1882 and was then known as the Royal Avenue Theatre. It opened with a comic opera by Offenbach called 'Madame Favart'.
The original site was said to have been purchased amidst speculation that the newly constructed Charing Cross mainline railway station would want to expand and naturally the land would increase in value. However, this did not transpire and the Playhouse Theatre remained and still remains today. The building was constructed by F.H.Fowler and had a seating capacity of 1,200.
It was at this Royal Avenue Theatre that George Bernard Shaw's first West End play was performed in 1894 'Arms and Men'.
An incident occurred during a major refurbishment of the Royal Avenue which started in 1905. It was whilst these works were being carried out, a large section of the wall of the rear of Charing Cross station, which backs on to the theatre, collapsed and came crashing through the roof of the theatre killing 6 workmen and extensively damaging the yet unfinished interior. The works were completed and it was decided for superstitious reasons to rename the theatre the Playhouse. The Playhouse Theatre opened on 28th January 1907, and has stood since to the current day. The opening production was 'The Drums of Oudh' and 'Toddles', a play by Tristan Bernard and Andre Godferneaux. The new Playhouse Theatre had a much reduced seating capacity of 679.
It was at the Playhouse Theatre that Somerset Maugham's play 'Home and Beauty' was performed and where Alec Guinness made his stage debut shortly after the reopening in 1907.
The Playhouse Theatre is probably best remembered as a BBC venue when it was used by the BBC from 1951 to 1976 for Radio live recordings of shows, such as Hancock's Half Hour, The Goon Show, Steptoe and Son, and panel games. Pop Rock groups including the Beatles and the Rolling Stones have both recorded shows at the Playhouse Theatre. After the BBC left the Playhouse Theatre, the building fell in to disrepair and stood derelict for 10 years. It was scheduled for demolition, as buildings are normally given a 10 year structural stability period after which they are normally scheduled for demolition. The Playhouse Theatre was saved this fate by allowing for another building to be constructed over the top of the theatre for commercial use, which provided additional funding to enable the subsequent total restoration of the Playhouse Theatre main building.
In the 1980's, the Playhouse Theatre was given a total refurbishment and restored to its original 1907 former glory, with a slightly increased seating capacity to 786, and it re-opened in 1987. One thing that is interesting is that the stage still retains it original sub-stage machinery as was installed in 1907.
The Playhouse Theatre continued to stage productions, including the acclaimed revival of Ibsen's 'A Dolls House' in 1996, after which the Playhouse Theatre was acquired by new owners and underwent a 6 month refurbishment. It was again re-opened as a producing theatre with a performance Chekhov's 'The Wood Demon'. Unfortunately it closed after only 2 months with poor reviews and the Playhouse Theatre became a commercial liability and now stages short runs.
The theatre is currently co-owned by the Ambassador Theatre Group and the Tulbart Group.
Showing: Dreamboats and Petticoats
Wednesday 6th January 2010 to Open ended run Playhouse Theatre | Performances | Information | Directions | History
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