Ambassadors Theatre (London)

West End theatre in London

Ambassadors Theatre

New Ambassadors Theatre (1999–2007)

The Ambassadors Theatre in April 2007

Address| West Street
London, WC2
United Kingdom
Coordinates| 51°30′47″N 0°07′40″W﻿ / ﻿51.51292°N 0.12785°W﻿ / 51.51292; -0.12785
Public transit|  Covent Garden; Leicester Square
Owner| ATG Entertainment
Designation| Grade II
Type| West End theatre
Capacity| 444
Production| Kathy and Stella Solve a Murder!
Construction
Opened| 5 June 1913; 111 years ago (1913-06-05)
Architect| W. G. R. Sprague
Website
Ambassadors Theatre website

The Ambassadors Theatre (formerly the New Ambassadors Theatre), is a West End theatre located in West Street, near Cambridge Circus on Charing Cross Road in the City of Westminster. It is one of the smallest of the West End theatres, seating a maximum of 444, with 195 people in the dress circle and 251 in the stalls.

## History[edit]

The theatre was, along with the adjacent St Martin's conceived by their architect, W. G. R. Sprague, as companions, born at the same time in 1913, but the First World War interrupted the construction of the latter for three years. The Ambassadors was built with the intention of being an intimate, smaller theatre and is situated opposite the renowned restaurant The Ivy, favourite haunt of the theatrical elite.

The theatre was Grade II listed by English Heritage in March 1973.[1]

The stage door c.2000

### New Ambassadors era[edit]

In 1996, the venue was bought by its namesake the Ambassador Theatre Group, now the largest operator of theatres in the West End. It was first split into two small spaces, by creating a false floor at circle level, and used by the Royal Court. Then in 1999 the venue was returned to its original design,[2] renamed the New Ambassadors and hosted niche works and plays not normally seen outside of smaller fringe venues. However, within a few years the theatre had largely reverted to playing material seen as more commercially viable for its location in the West End.

On 4 April 2007 it was announced that ATG had sold the venue to Stephen Waley-Cohen, who renamed the venue The Ambassadors as it once was, and began an extensive programme of refurbishments. In 2014, Waley-Cohen announced plans to sell the Ambassadors to Delfont Mackintosh Theatres, who said it intended to rename the theatre after Stephen Sondheim once the sale was completed.[3] The sale was later postponed pending redevelopment approval,[4] and was ultimately cancelled in November 2018.[5] In December 2018, Waley-Cohen instead sold the theatre back to ATG for £12 million, more than twice what Mackintosh was slated to pay.[6]

## Productions[edit]

Vivien Leigh made her West End debut in the Ambassadors, starring in The Mask of Virtue (1935); this was the play in which Laurence Olivier first saw her perform.[2]

The theatre's most famous production is Agatha Christie's The Mousetrap, which showed from 1952 to 1974 before moving next door to St. Martin's Theatre, where it is still running.

After its purchase by the Ambassador Theatre Group under producer Sonia Friedman, productions included Some Explicit Polaroids by Mark Ravenhill, Spoonface Steinberg by Lee Hall, Krapp's Last Tape by Samuel Beckett and starring John Hurt, and was the West End's first home of Marie Jones' Stones in His Pockets and The Vagina Monologues by Eve Ensler.[2]

Recent productions have included the multi-award-winning production of John Doyle's Sweeney Todd which subsequently transferred to Broadway, Ying Tong – A Walk with the Goons, Someone Who'll Watch Over Me, Journey's End and the world première of Kate Betts' On the Third Day which won the Channel 4 television series The Play's the Thing. In 2006, the theatre played host to the landmark revival of Peter Hall's production of Waiting for Godot which ran for a strictly limited autumn season.

Recent productions include the Menier Chocolate Factory production of Little Shop of Horrors, the Bush Theatre's production of Whipping it Up, starring Richard Wilson and Robert Bathurst, and Love Song, starring Cillian Murphy and Neve Campbell (November 2006 to February 2007).

In September 2007, renowned dance show Stomp transferred to the theatre for a ten year run, which had its last performance in January 2018.[7]

## Nearby Tube stations[edit]

* Leicester Square
* Covent Garden

## References[edit]

1. ^ Historic England. "Ambassadors Theatre (1379185)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 4 February 2014.
2. ^ a b c Theatre website History page. Retrieved 4 October 2016
3. ^ Hemley, Matthew. "Cameron Mackintosh buys West End’s Victoria Palace and Ambassadors theatres", The Stage, May 22, 2014
4. ^ Ambassadors relaunch as Sondheim Theatre put on ice until 2018 at earliest
5. ^ Masso, Giverny (8 November 2018). "Cameron Mackintosh's purchase of Ambassadors Theatre collapses after owner receives higher offers | News". The Stage. Retrieved 25 November 2018.
6. ^ Hemley, Matthew (20 December 2018). "Exclusive: Ambassadors Theatre sold to ATG in £12m deal". The Stage. Retrieved 22 December 2018.
7. ^ "STOMP Tickets | London Theatre Tickets | Ambassadors Theatre | West End Theatre". www.westendtheatre.com. 13 July 2012. Retrieved 4 July 2023.

* Guide to British Theatres 1750–1950, John Earl and Michael Sell pp. 98 (Theatres Trust, 2000) ISBN 0-7136-5688-3

## External links[edit]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Ambassadors Theatre.

* Theatre History

* v
* t
* e

Theatres in London

West End|

| ATG Entertainment|

* Ambassadors
* Apollo Victoria
* Duke of York's
* Fortune
* Harold Pinter
* Lyceum
* Phoenix
* Piccadilly
* Playhouse
* Savoy

|

Delfont Mackintosh Theatres|

* Gielgud
* Noël Coward
* Novello
* Prince Edward
* Prince of Wales
* Sondheim
* Victoria Palace
* Wyndham's

LW Theatres|

* Adelphi
* Cambridge
* Drury Lane
* Gillian Lynne
* His Majesty's
* London Palladium

Nederlander Organization|

* Aldwych
* Dominion

Nimax Theatres|

* Apollo
* Duchess
* Garrick
* Lyric
* Palace
* @sohoplace
* Vaudeville

Independent|

* Arts
* Criterion
* Haymarket
* St Martin's
* Shaftesbury
* Trafalgar

Other major
theatres|

* Barbican Centre
* London Coliseum
* National
* The Old Vic
* Open Air
* Peacock
* Royal Opera House
* Sadler's Wells
* Shakespeare's Globe

Off West End|

* Almeida
* Arcola
* Battersea Arts Centre
* Bridge
* Bush
* Charing Cross
* Donmar Warehouse
* Hampstead
* Kiln
* Lyric Hammersmith
* Marylebone Theatre
* Menier Chocolate Factory
* The Other Palace
* Rayne Theatre
* Royal Court
* Soho
* Young Vic

Fringe and
suburban|

* ChickenShed's Amphitheatre
* artsdepot
* Ashcroft
* Barons Court
* Beck
* Bloomsbury
* Bob Hope
* Brixton House
* The Broadway
* Broadway
* Brockley Jack
* Brookside
* Canal Café
* Chelsea
* Churchill
* Cockpit
* Compass
* Coronet
* Courtyard
* Erith Playhouse
* Etcetera
* Finborough
* Gate
* Greenwich
* Hackney Empire
* Hen and Chickens
* Hoxton Hall
* ICA
* Intimate Theatre
* Jacksons Lane
* Jermyn Street
* King's Head
* Leicester Square
* Little Angel
* Millfield
* New Wimbledon
* Old Red Lion
* Orange Tree
* Park
* Pentameters
* The Place
* Pleasance Islington
* Queen's, Hornchurch
* The Questors
* RADA Studios
* Richmond
* Riverside Studios
* Rose, Kingston
* Rosemary Branch Theatre
* Shaw
* South London
* Southwark Playhouse
* The Space
* Studio Theatre
* Tabard
* Theatre503
* Theatre Royal Stratford East
* Troxy
* Turbine
* Unicorn
* Union
* Upstairs at The Gatehouse
* White Bear
* Wilton's

Former|

* Above the Stag
* Bolton's Theatre Club
* Cochrane
* Cock Tavern
* Empress
* Greenwich Playhouse
* Landor
* Mermaid
* New End
* New Players'
* Saville
* Stratford Circus
* Warehouse
* Westminster

* Category
* Commons

*[v]: View this template
*[t]: Discuss this template
*[e]: Edit this template