Arts Theatre

Wikipedia contributors · CC BY-SA · EN · 04/10/2026

The Arts Theatre is a theatre in Great Newport Street, in Westminster, Central London. It opened on April 20, 1927.

History

It opened on 20 April 1927 as a members-only club for the performance of unlicensed plays, thus avoiding theatre censorship by the Lord Chamberlain's office. It was one of a small number of committed, independent theatre companies, including the Hampstead Everyman, the Gate Theatre Studio and the Q Theatre, which took risks by producing a diverse range of new and experimental plays, or plays that were thought to be commercially non-viable on the West End. The theatrical producer Norman Marshall referred to these as 'The Other Theatre' in his 1947 book of the same name.

The theatre opened with a revue by Herbert Farjeon entitled Picnic, produced by Harold Scott and with music by Beverley Nichols. Its first important production was Young Woodley by John Van Druten, staged in 1928, which later transferred to the Savoy Theatre when the Lord Chamberlain's ban was lifted. In 1938, a four-week revival of the Stokes brothers' Oscar Wilde, starring Francis L. Sullivan and produced by Ronald Adam, opened on 25 October. This coincided with a Broadway production of the play. In 1940 the ballet La fête étrange was staged at the theatre, choreographed by Andrée Howard. It has subsequently been performed over 200 times by The Royal Ballet, and by Scottish Ballet.

In 1942, Alec Clunes and John Hanau took over the running of the theatre and for ten years produced a wide range of plays, winning a reputation as a 'pocket national theatre'. In 1946, Clunes teamed with author Peter Elstob to raise £20,000, which eventually put the theatre on a sound financial footing.

Ronnie Barker made his West End début at the production of Mourning Becomes Electra at the Arts Theatre in 1955 which was directed by Sir Peter Hall, with whom Barker had worked at the Oxford Playhouse. Barker remained a West End actor for some years, appearing in numerous plays between 1955 and 1968. These included two performances each night as he played a gypsy in Listen to the Wind at the Arts Theatre in 1955. In August 1955, aged 24, Hall directed the English-language premiere of Samuel Beckett's Waiting for Godot at the theatre. This was an important turning point in modern theatre for Britain. Subsequently, from 1956 to 1959, Hall ran the Arts Theatre.

Between April 1962 and January 1967 the Arts Theatre was known as the New Arts Theatre. Nat Cohen took over the lease.

From 1967 to 1999 the Arts also became a home for the Unicorn children's theatre, under the direction of its founder Caryl Jenner. She took over the lease, initially for six years. Meanwhile, adult performances continued in the evening, including Tom Stoppard's satirical double-bill Dirty Linen and New-Found-Land which, opening in June 1976, ran for four years at the Arts.

The theatre's lease was taken over by a consortium of UK and US producers in 2000 for a five-year period, and it was relaunched as a West End theatre with the anniversary production of Julian Mitchell's play Another Country, directed by Stephen Henry. Notable productions during this time included Closer to Heaven, the Jonathan Harvey/Pet Shop Boys musical, and The Vagina Monologues.

In 2011, the theatre was taken over by JJ Goodman and led by Artistic Director Mig Kimpton under the business management of Louis Hartshorn. The Arts now operates as the West End's smallest commercial receiving house, seating a maximum of 350 in a two-tier basement auditorium.

In 2014, Louis Hartshorn took over from Mig Kimpton as Executive Director and alongside long standing business partner Brian Hook as Producer. Expanding over an additional floor the Arts Theatre now houses two rehearsal rooms and a 60-capacity studio theatre 'Above the Arts'.

At the start of January 2026, The Arts Theatre closed for an extensive 2 year regeneration. Later that month it was announced that the Arts Theatre will be opening a new temporary venue on the Marble Arch roundabout called 'The Arts at Marble Arch'.

Productions

Rosmersholm (with Marius Goring and Lucie Mannheim) - 1948

Too True to Be Good (with Marius Goring and Lucie Mannheim) - 1948

The Cherry Orchard (with Marius Goring) - 1948

South – 1955

The Children's Hour – 1955

Templeton - 1958

In White America – 1964

Elegies – 7–14 November 2004

A Guide to Sexual Misery – Jan to Apr 2011

Woody Sez: The Life & Music of Woody Guthrie – Jan to Apr 2011

Eve Ferret Sings – Mar 2011

David Wood's Storytime – April 2011

Face to Face at the Arts (series) (with Stephen Mangan) – May 2011

Bette and Joan – May to Jun 2011

Eve Ferret Sings Again – Jun 2011

Seussical (with Stephen Flaherty and Lynn Ahrens) – Dec 2012

The Tailor Made Man (with Faye Tozer, Mike McShane and Dylan Turner) – Feb to Apr 2013

Seussical (with Stephen Flaherty and Lynn Ahrens) – Nov 2013

Ghost Stories – February 2014 to March 2015

Bad Jews March to June 2015

Annie JR August 2015

USHERS: The Front of House Musical October to November 2015

The Blues Brothers: Xmas Special November 2015 to January 2016

All That Fall – April to May 2016

A View from Islington North – May to July 2016

American Idiot July to November 2015, July to September 2016

Murder Ballad – September to December 2016

A Christmas Carol with Simon Callow – December 2016 to January 2018

Toyer

Saturday Night

Shout!

The Show Girls

F**king Men

Hotel Follies

Catwalk Confidential

Cymbeline

A Christmas Carol

Daisy Pulls It Off

Nunsense A-Men

Naked Boys Singing

A Man of No Importance

Party

Oddsocks Present Romeo and Juliet

Shirley Jones

Wet Weather Cover

The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (abridged)

Lillies on the Land

The Music of the Blues Brothers – A Tribute

Park Avenue Cat

Milked

Six

Oh My Goddess!

The Female Edit

The Wipers Times (play)

The Toxic Avenger

Oleanna

The Choir of Man (9 November 2021 - 3 April 2022)

Bonnie and Clyde (9 April 2022 - 10 July 2022)

The Choir of Man (1 October 2022 - present)

Austentatious (November 2022 - present)

Source and attribution

Adapted from “Arts Theatre” by English Wikipedia contributors. Main paragraphs and sections are retained; tables, reference markers and technical markup are omitted. This is an encyclopedic adaptation, not a personal review. Original revision and contributor history ↗. Text is shared under CC BY-SA 4.0 ↗. Check current visitor access, tickets and transport with the relevant operator.