The West End

WEST END THEATRES

by Katy Morely

Here is my lowdown on some of the most interesting facts about West End Theatre buildings.

There are approximately 40 theatre venues in the West End, also known as TheatreLand.

As you may know, we have a lot of historic and old theatre buildings in London, and would you be interested to hear that the oldest working theatre is The Theatre Royal Drury Lane, built in 1663?! (However the building that you see today is it’s 4th incarnation.)

This is closely followed (20 years later) by Sadler’s Wells, built in 1683.

Most West End Theatres are very old, being Victorian and Edwardian. They are also mostly privately owned and listed buildings, which is why many of them don't have lifts. Even though many have been refurbished, the builders aren’t allowed to put them in. 

Another reason for the lack of modern construction in Theatres is down to lack of space. Theatres such as the Savoy, are so small in the Front of House areas, that when there is a popular show, or a busy night, there’s not enough room for everyone in the bars! However this is made up by the fact that it has a fairly large auditorium, holding up to 1158 people in the audience.

The West End theatre with the smallest auditorium is the Arts Theatre, holding just 350 in the audience. 

Although not classed as a ‘West End’ theatre, the Jermyn Street Theatre holds only 70 seats!

The largest is the London Palladium, which has a capacity of 2286! That’s nearly 2000 more people!

One of my favourite theatres is the National Theatre on the Southbank. Although lots of people don’t like the big ‘brutalist’ building, I think it’s a great London landmark and shows that are put on there are some of the best in the world, with not just 1 but 2 auditoriums. And because it's such a modern building (opened in 1976), they have such a big open front of house space, with enough room for cafes, shops and even lifts!