Fortune Theatre

Address: Russell St, WC2B 5HH

Tube: Covent Garden

Architect: Ernest Schaufelberg

Opened: 1924

Capacity: 435

The Fortune Theatre was the first theatre to be built in London after World War One. It is London’s third smallest theatre. However, its claim to fame is that it is the oldest building designed using concrete as a textured and exposed façade in public use within the City of London.

Lawrence Cohen the owner of the theatre was a playwright and author and the first play it performed was his work Sinners. However, the site was the same site as that of a much older theatre the “Cockpit” Theatre.

Since 1989, the theatre has hosted the long running play The Woman in Black, adapted from the book of the same name by Susan Hill. In 2001, it celebrated the 5000th performance.