London Theatre Breaks

London Theatre Breaks

Why not visit the super city of London to go on a theatre break. See some theatre or musicals or opera in the city. See some of the rich cultural events of the city. You may want to get a cheap or luxury seat. You wany to rent a box, or ben in with people, in the front row, maybe you buy some food in the theatre.

West End theatre is a popular term for mainstream professional theatre in London, England, United Kingdom, or sometimes more specifically for shows staged in the large theatres of London's Theatreland. Along with New York's Broadway theatre, West End theatre is usually considered to represent the highest level of commercial theatre in the English-speaking world. Seeing a West End show is a common tourist activity in London.

London's main theatre district is located in the heart of the West End of the city centre, and is traditionally defined by The Strand to the south, Oxford Street to the north, Regent Street to the west, and Kingsway to the east although The South Bank Complex is now considered by some to be part of it. Prominent theatre streets include Drury Lane, Shaftesbury Avenue, and The Strand. This area contains approximately forty large theatres and is often referred to as Theatreland. The works staged are predominantly musicals, classic or middle brow plays, and comedy performances.

Most of the theatres in "Theatreland" are of late Victorian or Edwardian construction, and they are privately owned. Most of them have great character, and the largest and best maintained are splendid, featuring grand neo-classical, romanesque, or Victorian facades and luxurious, detailed interior design and decoration. On the other hand, leg room is often cramped, and audience facilities such as bars and toilets are often much smaller than in modern theatres. The protected status of the buildings and their confined urban locations, combined with financial constraints, mean that it is very difficult to make substantial improvements to the level of comfort offered.

There is a great deal of theatre in London outside of the West End. Much of this is known as fringe theatre which is the equivalent of Off Broadway Theatre in New York. Fringe venues range from well-equipped small theatres to rooms above pubs, and the performances range from classic plays, to cabaret, to plays in the languages of London's ethnic minorities. The performers range from emerging young professionals to amateurs.

Finally, there are also local theatres in the suburbs which stage a wide range of work, often including touring productions such as the New Wimbledon Theatre or the Churchill Theatre in Bromley.

It should be noted that the term West End Theatre is sometimes used to refer specifically to commercial productions in Theatreland. However the leading non-commercial (usually government subsidised) theatres in London, such as the National Theatre, the Royal Shakespeare Company, the Globe Theatre, the Old Vic, the Young Vic, the Royal Court Theatre, the Almeida Theatre, and the Open Air Theatre, most of which are not located in "Theatreland", arguably enjoy greater artistic prestige. These theatres stage a higher proportion of more demanding work, including Shakespeare, other classic plays and premieres of new plays by leading highbrow playwrights. Hit plays from the non-commercial theatres sometimes transfer to one of the commercial "Theatreland" houses for an extended second run.

Theatres in London
West End
Adelphi, Aldwych, Ambassadors, Apollo, Apollo Victoria, Arts, Cambridge, Coliseum, Comedy, Criterion, Dominion, Drury Lane, Duchess, Duke of York's, Fortune, Garrick, Gielgud, Haymarket, Her Majesty's, London Palladium, Lyceum, Lyric, New London, Noël Coward, Novello, Palace, Peacock, Phoenix , Piccadilly, Playhouse, Prince Edward, Prince of Wales, Queen's, St. Martin's, Royal Opera House, Savoy, Shaftesbury, Trafalgar Studios, Vaudeville, Victoria Palace, Wyndham's
Other major theatres
Almeida, Barbican Arts Centre, Donmar Warehouse, Old Vic, Open Air, Royal National {Olivier - Lyttelton - Cottesloe), Royal Court, Sadler's Wells, Shakespeare's Globe, Young Vic
Fringe and suburban
Arcola, artsdepot, Ashcroft, Barons Court , Battersea Arts Centre, The UCL Bloomsbury, theBROADWAY, Broadway, Bush, Canal Café, Chelsea, Churchill, Cochrane, Cockpit, The Drill Hall, Erith Playhouse, Etcetera, Finborough, Greenwich Playhouse, Greenwich, Hackney Empire, Hampstead · Hen and Chickens, Hoxton Hall, ICA, Jermyn Street Theatre, King's Head · Landor, Lyric Hammersmith, Menier Chocolate Factory, Mermaid, New End, New Wimbledon · Orange Tree, Oval House, Pentameters, The Place, Queen's, Hornchurch, Questors, Richmond, Riverside Studios · Rose of Kingston, Rosemary Branch, Shaw, Soho, South London, Southwark Playhous, Stratford Circus · Tabard Theatre, Theatre 503, Theatre Royal Stratford East, Tricycle , The Venue, Unicorn, Warehouse, Wilton's

London is an international centre of culture in terms of arts, music, festivals, museums and much more. The diversity of cultures within London is so great that easy definition is impossible.

The London Symphony Orchestra, London Philharmonic Orchestra, the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, the Philharmonia and the BBC Symphony Orchestra. There are also several chamber orchestras, some of which specialise in period instrument performances, including the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment, and the Academy of St. Martin-in-the-Fields.

The principal orchestral music venues are the Royal Festival Hall, and the Queen Elizabeth Hall, which are both in the South Bank Centre; the Barbican Centre; and the Royal Albert Hall, which hosts the Proms each summer. Chamber music venues include the Purcell Room at the South Bank Centre; the Wigmore Hall and St John's, Smith Square.

The Royal Opera House at Covent Garden is home to the Royal Opera and Royal Ballet companies. The other main opera company is the English National Opera. In the summer opera is performed in a temporary pavilion by Opera Holland Park, and there are occasional performances by visiting opera companies and small freelance professional opera companies. The major venues for contemporary dance productions include the Sadler's Wells Theatre and the Barbican Centre.

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