Early years, 1903–1919 The New was the second of the three theatres in
St Martin's Lane. The Trafalgar Square (now the
Duke of York's) opened in 1892 and the
London Coliseum in 1904. The actor-manager Charles Wyndham, who had been based at the
Criterion Theatre for more than twenty years, moved in 1899 to the larger
Wyndham's Theatre which he commissioned in
Charing Cross Road. To build Wyndham's, he had been obliged to buy a larger parcel of land than he required, and in 1901 he was in negotiations to sell the area he did not need. When negotiations fell through, he decided to build another theatre on the vacant site. This plot fronting on St Martin's Lane is bounded on one side by St Martin's Court, which also runs behind the theatre. While the theatre was in planning and then under construction it was referred to simply as "the new theatre", and the name stuck. The street adjacent to it is called New Row. The theatre, like Wyndham's, was designed by the architect
W.G.R. Sprague, and was the thirtieth theatre he designed. A contemporary report described the front elevation as "of the free classic order … at once dignified and effective". The New Theatre opened on 12 March 1903 with a brief season consisting of a revival of
Rosemary – a play by
Louis N. Parker and Murray Carson, starring Wyndham and his partner (later wife)
Mary Moore – and a special matinée of Wyndham's best-known production,
David Garrick. The following month
Johnston Forbes-Robertson transferred his production of
The Light that Failed from the Lyric, after which there were seasons featuring
Mrs Patrick Campbell and then
Cyril Maude.
Fred Terry and
Julia Neilson played an annual season of about six months at the New from 1905 to 1913, including many revivals of their great success,
The Scarlet Pimpernel. and
Count Hannibal (1910). In 1911, Terry presented
As You Like It and
Romeo and Juliet to introduce his daughter
Phyllis to the stage. Between then and the
First World War, the theatre featured comedies and musical comedies.
Dion Boucicault Jr., became manager in December 1915 and opened with a revival of
Peter Pan, revived each Christmas season until 1919. He produced a series of successes including new plays by
Somerset Maugham,
J. M. Barrie,
Arthur Wing Pinero and
A.A. Milne.
Leon M. Lion presented a season in 1918–19 in which
Katharine Cornell made her only appearance on the London stage, playing Jo in a dramatisation of
Little Women.
1920s and
Esmé Wynne in Coward's ''
I'll Leave It to You'', 1920 ''
I'll Leave It to You'', in 1920, was Noël Coward's first staged play, and ran at the New for 37 performances.
Matheson Lang was associated with the New for several years, presenting and playing in Shakespeare and modern dramas. The London premiere of
Bernard Shaw's
St. Joan starring
Sybil Thorndike followed in 1924. In July 1925,
Robert Atkins took over management of the New, presenting
Israel Zangwill's
We Moderns. The following year and for most of 1927 the New was home to a dramatisation of
Margaret Kennedy's
The Constant Nymph, which ran for 587 performances, starring first Coward and then the young
John Gielgud as Lewis Dodd. Towards the end of the decade, two comedies by
P. G. Wodehouse and
Ian Hay –
A Damsel in Distress (1928), and
Baa Baa Black Sheep (1929) ran for 234 and 115 performances respectively. After Gielgud's tenure, there was more Shakespeare at the New:
As You Like with Edith Evans and
Michael Redgrave;
The Taming of the Shrew with Evans and
Leslie Banks; and
Macbeth with Olivier and
Judith Anderson (all 1937). managing director of the New Theatre, made it available to all three companies as a London base, although in practice the Old Vic company occupied the theatre more than the Sadler's Wells companies. The theatre historians
Mander and Mitchenson single out productions of ''
The Beggar's Opera, King John. The Cherry Orchard and Hamlet'' (with
Robert Helpmann in the title role). In 1944, with the end of the war in sight, a reconstituted Old Vic company took possession of the New, starring
Ralph Richardson, Olivier and Thorndike. The repertory that year comprised
Ibsen's
Peer Gynt, Shaw's
Arms and the Man, Shakespeare's
Richard III and Chekhov's
Uncle Vanya. Between Old Vic seasons,
Robert Morley and
Wendy Hiller starred in a Regency drama,
The First Gentleman, which ran for 654 performances. The 1945 Old Vic company season added
Henry IV, Parts I and II and a celebrated double bill of
Oedipus and
The Critic. In September 1946,
King Lear and
Cyrano de Bergerac were staged. Under a different management,
Aldous Huxley's
The Gioconda Smile was a success in 1948–49, running for 655 performances.
1950s and 1960s In 1950,
The Cocktail Party by
T.S. Eliot began a run of 325 performances. From later in the decade, Mander and Mitchenson single out
Vivian Ellis's musical version of
J. B. Fagan's
And So to Bed (1951, 323 performances);
The Young Elizabeth (1952, 498 performances);
Katharine Hepburn in Shaw's
The Millionairess (1952);
Yvonne Arnaud in
Dear Charles (1952, 466 performances);
Dorothy Tutin in
I Am a Camera (1954, 343 performances); a comedy about bigamy,
The Remarkable Mr Pennypacker (1955, 421 performances);
Leslie Caron in
Colette's
Gigi (1956);
Under Milk Wood (1956, 250 performances);
Summer of the Seventeenth Doll (1957);
Charles Laughton in
The Party (1958);
The Rose Tattoo (1959);
Peter O'Toole in
The Long and the Short and the Tall (1959); and the
Theatre Royal Stratford East's
Make Me an Offer (1959). In June 1960,
Oliver!, the
Lionel Bart musical based on
Oliver Twist, was first produced, and ran until September 1966, a total of 2,618 performances.
The Times reported that its run had broken the previous West End records –
My Fair Lady (2,282) and
Salad Days (2,283). The last years of the decade brought shorter runs to the New. They included
Jorrocks, a musical (1967, 181 performances);
Gwen Watford and
Gemma Jones in
Howards End (1967, 137);
Roy Dotrice playing multiple roles in the comedy
World War 2 (1967, 166); the
Prospect Theatre Company's production of
Farquhar's
The Constant Couple;
Spring and Port Wine;
Paul Scofield in
John Osborne's
The Hotel in Amsterdam; the controversial
Soldiers by
Rolf Hochhuth in December 1968, and in April 1969
Anne of Green Gables, a new musical with
Polly James in the lead. A revival of
Oliver! ran from 1977 to 1980 In 1981,
Children of a Lesser God won the
Olivier Awards (then known as the Society of West End Theatre Awards) for Best New Play and for actors
Trevor Eve and Elizabeth Quinn. Among some of the 1990s productions was the 1994 revival of
Turgenev's
A Month in the Country starring
Helen Mirren and
John Hurt. In the 2000s the theatre played host to several Shakespeare productions including a production of
Twelfth Night set in India with an entirely Asian cast. The production played to packed houses and only closed as the
Royal Shakespeare Company themselves had exclusive rights to perform their annual London season of Tragedies there. Between December 2004 and April 2005, they presented
Hamlet,
Romeo & Juliet,
Macbeth,
King Lear and a brand new production of Euripides'
Hecuba starring
Vanessa Redgrave. On 8 June 2005,
Dion Boucicault's Victorian melodrama
The Shaughraun opened; however, its success at the
Dublin Gate Theatre was not repeated in London and it closed on 30 July. A dark period of around three months followed before the theatre was transferred to the ownership of Delfont Mackintosh Limited and reopened in October 2005 with
The Right Size's new production
Ducktastic!. Once again this failed to live up to expectations and closed just three weeks after opening on 19 November 2005. A short Christmas season of
Patrick Stewart's one-man version of
Charles Dickens'
A Christmas Carol played from 6 to 31 December 2005, before the theatre hosted the
Edinburgh International Festival hit drama
Blackbird starring
Roger Allam. The award-winning play Enron (directed by Rupert Goold, starring Samuel West and Tim Pigott-Smith) transferred here after a sellout run at the Royal Court. The European premiere of the Broadway hit,
Avenue Q, started previewing on 2 June 2006 and had its opening night on 28 June 2006, finally closing on 28 March 2009 prior to transferring to the
Gielgud Theatre. Following a production of
Deathtrap, directed by
Matthew Warchus and starring
Simon Russell Beale and
Jonathan Groff, the theatre became the home of jukebox musical
Million Dollar Quartet in February 2011.
Other productions since 2000 •
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
Royal Shakespeare Company'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 Royal Shakespeare Company's
Romeo and Juliet (21 December 2004 – 8 January 2005) by William Shakespeare • The Royal Shakespeare Company's
King Lear (18 January 2005 – 5 February 2005) by William Shakespeare, starring
Corin Redgrave • The Royal Shakespeare Company's
Macbeth (16 February 2005 – 5 March 2005) by William Shakespeare • The Royal Shakespeare Company'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 (1–3 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 – 28 March 2009) •
Calendar Girls (13 April 2009 – 9 January 2010) •
Enron (26 January 2010 – 14 August 2010) •
Deathtrap (7 September 2010 – 15 January 2011) by
Ira Levin, starring
Simon Russell Beale and
Jonathan Groff •
Million Dollar Quartet (28 February 2011 – 14 January 2012) •
Hay Fever (23 February 2012 – 2 June 2012) by
Noël Coward starring
Lindsay Duncan,
Jeremy Northam,
Kevin McNally and
Olivia Colman •
Gatz (13 June 2012 – 15 July 2012) •
Julius Caesar (8 August 2012 – 15 September 2012) by William Shakespeare (RSC transfer starring
Paterson Joseph,
Ray Fearon,
Jeffery Kissoon and
Cyril Nri) •
Much Ado About Nothing (22 September 2012 – 27 October 2012) by William Shakespeare (RSC transfer starring
Meera Syal) •
Uncle Vanya (5 November 2012 – 10 November 2012) (performed in Russian with English subtitles) •
The Full Monty (25 February 2014 – 29 March 2014) •
Good People (19 April 2014 – 14 June 2014) starring
Imelda Staunton •
Shakespeare in Love (25 July 2014 – 18 April 2015) •
Death of a Salesman (13 May 2015 – 18 July 2015) by
Arthur Miller (RSC transfer starring
Antony Sher and
Harriet Walter) •
Impossible (24 July 2015 – 29 August 2015) •
A Christmas Carol (9 December 2015 – 30 January 2016) by Charles Dickens, adapted by
Patrick Barlow, starring
Jim Broadbent •
Mrs Henderson Presents (16 February 2016 – 18 June 2016) starring
Tracie Bennett •
Impossible (13 July 2016 – 27 August 2016) •
Half A Sixpence (17 November 2016 – 2 September 2017) •
Labour of Love by
James Graham (3 October 2017 – 2 December 2017) starring
Martin Freeman and
Tamsin Greig •
Girl from the North Country (11 January 2018 – 24 March 2018) •
Quiz (10 April 2018 – 16 June 2018) by
James Graham •
The Lieutenant of Inishmore by
Martin McDonagh (4 July 2018 – 8 September 2018) starring
Aidan Turner •
The Inheritance (13 October 2018 – 5 January 2019) by
Matthew Lopez, starring
John Benjamin Hickey and Vanessa Redgrave •
All About Eve (12 February 2019 – 11 May 2019) starring
Gillian Anderson and
Lily James •
The Night of the Iguana (16 July 2019 – 28 September 2019) by
Tennessee Williams, starring
Clive Owen and
Anna Gunn •
Dear Evan Hansen (19 November 2019 – 22 October 2022), starring
Sam Tutty •
The Comeback (8 December 2020 – 15 December 2020 and 10 July 2021 – 31 July 2021) •
Best of Enemies (14 November 2022 – 18 February 2023) starring
David Harewood and
Zachary Quinto •
The Great British Bake Off Musical (25 February 2023 – 13 May 2023) •
Patriots (26 May 2023 – 19 August 2023) by
Peter Morgan, starring
Tom Hollander •
The Ocean at the End of the Lane (11 October 2023 – 25 November 2023) by
Neil Gaiman, adapted by
Joel Horwood, starring
Charlie Brooks •
The Motive and the Cue (9 December 2023 – 23 March 2024) by
Jack Thorne, directed by
Sam Mendes, starring
Mark Gatiss and
Johnny Flynn •
Player Kings (1 April 2024 – 22 June 2024) by
Robert Icke, starring
Ian McKellen •
Slave Play (29 June 2024 – 21 September 2024) by
Jeremy O. Harris, starring
Fisayo Akinade,
Kit Harington,
Aaron Heffernan and
Olivia Washington •
Dr. Strangelove (8 October 2024 – 21 December 2024) by
Armando Iannucci and
Sean Foley, starring
Steve Coogan •
A Streetcar Named Desire (3 February 2025 – 22 February 2025) by
Tennessee Williams, starring
Paul Mescal and
Patsy Ferran •
The Last Laugh (25 February 2025 – 22 March 2025) by
Paul Hendy, starring
Bob Golding, Simon Cartwright and Damian Williams •
The Importance of Being Earnest (18 September 2025 – 10 January 2026) by
Oscar Wilde, starring
Olly Alexander,
Hugh Dennis and
Stephen Fry •
Dracula (4 February 2026 – 30 May 2026) by
Kip Williams, starring
Cynthia Erivo The Michael Grandage Company •
Privates on Parade by
Peter Nichols (10 December 2012 – 2 March 2013) starring
Simon Russell Beale •
Peter and Alice by
John Logan (25 March 2013 – 1 June 2013) starring
Judi Dench and
Ben Whishaw •
The Cripple of Inishmaan by
Martin McDonagh (18 June 2013 – 31 August 2013) starring
Daniel Radcliffe • ''
A Midsummer Night's Dream'' by
William Shakespeare (17 September 2013 – 16 November 2013) starring
Sheridan Smith and
David Walliams •
Henry V by William Shakespeare (3 December 2013 – 15 February 2014) starring
Jude Law •
Photograph 51 by
Anna Ziegler (14 September 2015 – 21 November 2015) starring
Nicole Kidman Mischief Theatre •
The Comedy about Spies (14 April 2025 – 5 September 2025) ==Citations==