Noel Coward Theatre (formerly Albery)

Address: St Martin's Lane, WC2N 4AH

Tube: Leicester sq

Architect: W.G.R. Sprague

Opened: 1872

Capacity: 903

The New Theatre was built by Sir Charles Wyndham behind his original theatre Wyndham's, hence its name. Both theatres share one stage door and there is a bridge above both, connecting them.

In 1973, it became the Albery Theatre. In 2006 after a major facelift it reopened as the Noël Coward Theatre, Noel Coward, made his West End debut in his first play, I'll Leave It To You, at the New Theatre in 1920. George Bernard Shaw's St. Joan starring Dame Sybil Thorndike ran in 1924.

John Gielgud directed and played the title role in Hamlet at the New Theatre in 1934, arguably the performance for which Gielgud was most famous. During the Blitz, the Sadler's Wells Theatre Company and the Old Vic were bombed out. Both companies made the New Theatre home until the 1950s. Lionel Bart's musical Oliver Twist, Oliver! ran for 2,618 performances here in the 1960’s. Recently, the theatre has played host to some notable and avante garde productions including Twelfth Night set entirely in India with an Asian cast.

Past performance at the Noel Coward Theatre:

Endgame (10 March 2004 - 1 May 2004) by Samuel Beckett, starring Lee Evans and Michael Gambon
Suddenly Last Summer (14 May 2004 - 31 July 2004) by Tennessee Williams, starring Diana Rigg
Twelfth Night (26 August 2004 - 30 October 2004) by William Shakespeare, starring Raza Jaffrey and Kulvinder Ghir
The RSC's Hamlet (23 November 2004 - 11 December 2004) by William Shakespeare, starring Toby Stephens
Peter Pan - 100 Years of Peter Pan (19 December 2004) by JM Barrie
The RSC's Romeo and Juliet (21 December 2004 - 8 January 2005) by William Shakespeare
The RSC's King Lear (18 January 2005 - 5 February 2005) by William Shakespeare, starring Corin Redgrave
The RSC's Macbeth (16 February 2005 - 5 March 2005) by William Shakespeare
The RSC's Hecuba (7 April 2005 - 7 May 2005) by Tony Harrison, adapted from Euripides, starring Vanessa Redgrave
The Shaughraun (8 June 2005 - 30 July 2005) by Dion Boucicault
Ducktastic! (19 October 2005 - 19 November 2005) by Sean Foley and Hamish McColl
Celebration - Harold Pinter (1 December 2005 - 3 December 2005) by Harold Pinter
A Christmas Carol (7 December 2005 - 31 December 2005) by Patrick Stewart. adapted from Charles Dickens, starring Patrick Stewart
Blackbird (13 February 2006 - 13 May 2006) by David Harrower, starring Roger Allam and Jodhi May
Avenue Q (28 June 2006 - )