Playhouse Theatre

Playhouse Theatre

Northumberland Avenue, London WC2N 5DE

Playhouse Theatre Safety Policy

Health & safety measures
  • Paperless or print at home tickets
Visitor measures
  • Cash free venue - contactless payments only

Getting here

Closest Tube Station

Embankment, Charing Cross Underground Station

Closest Train Station

Charing Cross

The Playhouse Theatre, located in the City of Westminster, is one of the famous theatrical venues in London’s West End. It is located near Trafalgar Square on Northumberland Avenue.

Welcome to the Playhouse Theatre

Built by F. H. Howler and Hill, the theatre initially featured 1,200 seats. However, after undergoing refurbishment in 1907, the seating capacity decreased. The Grade II listed building highlights a spectacular exterior that gently curves into Craven Street. The interiors are vividly designed; it has a set of striking paintings, a flowery safety curtain and horse-skull-shaped lights. Currently, it offers 786 seats spread across three levels. Ambassador Theatre Group owns and operates the venue.

Before the Playhouse Theatre

Sefton Henry Parry built the Playhouse Theatre, and it first opened on 11th March 1882 as The Royal Avenue Theatre with a revival of Jacques Offenbach’s Madame Favart. In its initial days, the venue hosted burlesques, comic operas and farces for many years. The prefix “Royal” was removed, making it the Avenue Theatre, but continued playing its genre of shows. However, it caught up with the trend and diverted its attention towards more serious theatre in the early 1890s.

In 1894, Miss Horniman anonymously sponsored the actress Florence Farr in a series of shows, but the first production could not succeed. This event led Farr to persuade a friend of hers to finish his first West End production—Arms And The Man. Her friend was none other than the legendary George Bernard Shaw, who wrote the first play specifically for the Avenue. The play became an instant success, and Shaw started to focus on writing more plays. The theatre began to become even more popular with the inclusion of popular works by W. Somerset Maugham, Tennessee Williams, Ibsen, and Chekhov.

In 1905, Blow and Billerey designed and rebuilt the theatre. Unfortunately, there was an accident, and a part of the nearby Charing Cross railway station collapsed; however, the venue reopened on 28th January 1907 with a new name – The Playhouse Theatre! Following its reopening, many famous personalities and companies graced the venue including WS Gilbert, actress-manager Gladys Cooper, Janet McTeer, The Peter Hall Company, The Almeida Theatre Company, and the BBC.

Fun Fact: Despite facing extensive renovations, the theatre retains its original substage machinery.

Recent Shows

The Playhouse Theatre has hosted many great shows in the last two decades. Among them were Anton Chekhov’s “Three Sisters” (3rd April – 29th June 2003), a Russian play, translated by Christopher Hampton and starring Kristin Scott Thomas; James M. Cain’s The Postman Always Rings Twice (8th June – 3rd September 2005), an adaptation by Andrew Rattenbury starring Van Kilmer; My Name Is Rachel Corrie (30th March – 21st May 2006) by Katherine Vilner and Alan Rickman which starred Megan Dodds; The Rocky Horror Show (4th July – 22nd July 2006) by Richard O’Brien, starring Suzanne Shaw and David Bedella.

Playhouse Theatre Seating Plan

The Playhouse Theatre Seating Plan

The Playhouse Theatre has a capacity of 786 over 3 levels: Stalls, Dress Circle, and Upper Circle.

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We highly recommend using public transit to get to the Playhouse Theatre. The nearest underground station to the theatre are Embankment (Bakerloo/Circle/District/Northern Lines) and Charing Cross (Bakerloo/Northern Lines). If arriving by train the nearest railway station is Charing Cross. The theatre is also serviced by bus lines 3, 11, 12, 24, 53, 87, 88, 91, 159, and 453. If you are driving to the theatre the nearest car park is the Q-Park Trafalgar.

Play

Les Liaisons Dangereuses

Play

An Inspector Calls

Inspector Goole interrupts the evening to bring bad news... J. B. Priestley classics back on stage!

Play

Creeper, The

Play

Harder They Come, The

Play

Vincent in Brixton

Play

My Name Is Rachel Corrie

Play

Hergé’s Adventures of Tintin

Musical

Footloose

Musical

Lord of the Dance: Dangerous Games

Play

The Mystery of Charles Dickens

The Mystery of Charles Dickens at the Playhouse Theatre

Musical

Spamalot

Musical

Dancing in the Streets

Play

Ring Round The Moon

Play

As You Desire Me

Musical

Rockin' Horses

Play

Speed-The-Plow

L‘Lindsay Lohan delivers the goods…a smouldering performance’ Daily Telegraph

Musical

Caroline, or Change

Sharon D. Clarke stars in a thrilling new musical by the award-winning Tony Kushner, author of Angels in America.

Play

Glengarry Glen Ross

Lies. Greed. Corruption. It’s business as usual.

Play

The Jungle

This is the place where people suffered and dreamed.

Play

Good

David Tennant stars in C.P. Taylor's Good in 2021!

Musical

Women On The Verge Of A Nervous Breakdown

Play

A Doll's House

Jessica Chastain makes her West End debut in A Doll's House

Musical

Dreamboats and Petticoats

Play

The Kite Runner

Raw story of the father–son relationship & the New York Times number one bestseller for over 2 years, this is something special!

Play

The Best Man

Martin Shaw returns for the West End premiere of Gore Vidal's The Best Man.

Play

Derren Brown: Underground

The multi-award winning master of mind-control and psychological illusion, Derren Brown, returns to the West End

Play

David Baddiel: My Family: Not The Sitcom

Baddiel's My Family: Not The Sitcom reminds us his mother was more than just wonderful. So is this show.