Wyndham's Theatre is a West End theatre, one of two opened by the actor/manager Charles Wyndham (cp Criterion Theatre). Located on Charing Cross Road, in the City of Westminster, it was designed by W.G.R. Sprague about 1898, the architect of six other London theatres between then and 1916. It was designed to seat 759 patrons on three levels although later refurbishment changed it into four. The theatre was Grade II* listed by English Heritage in September 1960 [1].

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History

Wyndham had always dreamed of building a theatre of his own and through the admiration of a patron and the financial confidence of friends, he was able to realise his dream when Wyndham's Theatre opened on 16 November 1899, in the presence of the Prince Of Wales. The first play performed there was a revival of T. W. Robertson's David Garrick .

In 1910, Gerald du Maurier began an association with the theatre which lasted 15 years and to include the stage debut of the screen actress Tallulah Bankhead. Du Maurier's small daughter, Daphne, often watched her father's performance from the wings. Thirty years later she presented her own play, The Years Between , on the same stage.

In January 1954, a small-scale musical pastiche, Sandy Wilson's The Boy Friend , which had begun life at the much smaller Players' Theatre, was moved to the Wyndham stage. It ran for 2078 performances, before eventually transferring to Broadway. During the 60s and early 70s the theatre continued to provide a setting for stars such as Alec Guinness (Wise Child ), Vanessa Redgrave and Diana Rigg.

The blockbuster of the decade – Godspell - opened at Wyndham's in January 1972 and lasted to October 1974. The original cast included David Essex, Marti Webb and Jeremy Irons.

Among more recent distinguished productions were the world premiere of The Ride Down Mt. Morgan by Arthur Miller and the British premiere of Edward Albee's Three Tall Women , starring Maggie Smith. Twenty-five years after making her debut there, Diana Rigg returned to play a hugely successful season as Medea. The critically acclaimed comedy, 'Art' , by Yasmina Reza, began its record-breaking run at Wyndham's in 1996 with Albert Finney, Tom Courtenay and Ken Stott in the cast. It opened in October 1996, and transferred to the Whitehall Theatre in October 2001.

Madonna made her West End debut there in 2002, performing in a sell-out production of Up For Grabs . This was followed by many other dramatic productions including Dinner and the National Theatre's Democracy during 2004, Holly Hunter in By The Bog Of Cats , American TV star Ruby Wax in a children's stage version of The Witches which ran during March 2005, followed by a controversial limited season of Eve Ensler's The Vagina Monologues which ran without the stars - Sharon Osbourne and her daughter Aimee, who dropped out the night before the production opened. Since then, theatre patrons have seen Sienna Miller star alongside Helen McClory, Reece Sheersmith and Clive Rowe in a new production of Shakespeare's As You Like It

Delfont Mackintosh Era

In May 2005, the theatre was taken over by Cameron Mackintosh's Delfont-Mackintosh Ltd. which began operations of the venue in September 2005. In October 2005 the theatre presented Tom Stoppard's adaptation of Heroes which starred Richard Griffiths and John Hurt.

The following year the theatre hosted a new production of Joanna Murray-Smith's play Honour starring Diana Rigg, Martin Jarvis and Natascha McElhone, which ran between 7 February and 6 May 2006. It later hosted the West End transfer of the Menier Chocolate Factory's hit production of Stephen Sondheim's musical Sunday in the Park with George , which starred Daniel Evans and Jenna Russell and ran till September. Between December 2006 and April 2007, the theatre presented the West End commercial transfer of Alan Bennett's National Theatre smash hit The History Boys which played to sell-out houses during its run until April 2007.

Bill Kenwright's production of Somerset Maugham's The Letter played through summer 2007, before a short hiatus where Chita Rivera was due to grace the London stage once more, but was forced to postpone. Shadowlands , based on the life story of C.S. Lewis opened in October 2007, starring Charles Dance and Janie Dee, before another return of Alan Bennett's The History Boys from December 2007.

The theatre closed temporarily for final refurbishment works before reopening in September 2008 with Kenneth Branagh starring in Michael Grandage's production of Chekhov's Ivanov in a new version by Tom Stoppard, the opening play in the Donmar West End twelve-month season at Wyndham's, with tickets at Donmar Warehouse prices. ^[2].

The Donmar West End season will also include Derek Jacobi starring in Twelfth Night and Judi Dench in Yukio Mishima's Madame de Sade , both staged by Grandage, while Branagh as artistic associate will direct Jude Law in Hamlet .

Recent and present productions

• Dinner (9 December 2003 - 3 April 2004) by Moira Buffini starring Harriet Walter
• Democracy (20 April 2004 - 9 October 2004) by Michael Frayn, starring Colm Meaney
• Dylan Moran: Monster II (1 November 2004 - 13 November 2004)
• By the Bog of Cats (1 December 2004 -26 February 2006) by Marina Carr, starring Holly Hunter
• The Witches (9 March 2005 - 2 April 2005) by David Wood, starring Ruby Wax
• The Vagina Monologues (7 April 2005 - 14 May 2005), by Eve Ensler
• As You Like It (21 June 2005 - 17 September 2005) by William Shakespeare, starring Sienna Miller and Clive Rowe
• Heroes (18 October 2005 - 14 January 2006) by Gerald Sibelyras, starring Richard Griffiths and John Hurt
• Honour (14 February 2006 - 6 May 2006) by Joanna Murray-Smith, starring Diana Rigg and Martin Jarvis
• Sunday in the Park with George (23 May 2006 - 2 September 2006) by Stephen Sondheim, starring Daniel Evans and Jenna Russell
• A Voyage Round My Father (21 September 2006 - 18 November 2006) by Jon Mortimer, starring Derek Jacobi
• The History Boys (18 December 2006 - 14 April 2007) by Alan Bennett
• The Letter (19 April 2007 - 10 August 2007), by Somerset Maughan, starring Jenny Seagrove and Anthony Andrews
• Shadowlands (3 October 2007 - 17 December 2007) by William Nicholson, starring Charles Dance and Janie Dee transferred to Novello Theatre, from 21 December 2007
• The History Boys (20 December 2007 - 26 April 2008) by Alan Bennett, starring Desmond Barrit

Donmar West End at the Wyndham's

• Ivanov (12 September 2008 - 29 November 2008) by Anton Chekhov in a new version by Tom Stoppard, starring Kenneth Branagh and Kevin R McNally
• Twelfth Night (5 December 2008 - 9 March 2009) by William Shakespeare, starring Derek Jacobi
• Madame de Sade (13 March 2009 - 23 May 2009) by Yukio Mishima, starring Dame Judi Dench and Rosamund Pike
• Hamlet (29 May 2009 - 22 August 2009) by William Shakespeare, starring Jude Law

Nearby Tube Stations

• Leicester Square
• Piccadilly Circus
• Charing Cross

References

1. English Heritage listing details accessed 28 Apr 2007
2. Mark Shenton reporting for The Stage on the 2008 refurbishment [1]