Arts Theatre history

A unique theatre, the Arts is somewhat unique in the family of West End theatres, due to its small capacity and because of the fact that it is only positioned as a receiving house for touring theatre companies. The auditorium can hold 350 audience members at its fullest capacity, making it the ideal choice of venue for independent theatre companies that want to take a leap into the big leagues of London’s West End for a shorter run.

The leaning towards independent theatre companies has been a tradition that goes right back to the theatre’s creation. The Arts theatre existed as a members-only club and was consequently able to avoid censorship and regulations for the performances of unlicensed plays, controlled by the Lord Chamberlin. Because of this, a great number of avant-garde and experimental plays were performed. This movement of theatre was championed at the Arts theatre by producer Norman Marshall and gave rise to the popular name at the time of ‘The Other Theatre’.

The first show to open at the Arts Theatre was a review called Picnic and this was followed by a full-scale production of Young Woodley in 1928. 1938 saw Oscar Wilde’s plays make a comeback at the theatre, then in 1942, under the management of Alec Clunes and John Hanau, it became known as the pocket National Theatre. One of the most important productions staged at the Arts Theatre was in 1955 when a very young Peter Hall directed the first English Language version of Samuel Beckett’s Waiting for Godot. This sparked the next wave of forward-thinking playwrights and directors such as Tom Stoppard and Peter Brook. Alongside these greats of the British theatre were shows from the Unicorn theatre company which specalises in theatre for children and young people.

In recent years, the Arts Theatre has become the home of such famous titles as The Vagina Monologues and public-schoolboy drama Another Country and ground-breaking gay play Beautiful Thing.