Royal Court
Theatre build date:
1888
History:
The Royal Court can be found far removed from the buzzing West End, in fashionable Sloane Square. The original theatre on the site was the converted Ranelagh Chapel, known as the New Chelsea Theatre in 1870. Only a year later, management changed hands, the interior was completely remodelled and the venue became the Court Theatre. Until further alterations in 1882 and the building’s demolition in 1887, a number of WS Gilbert’s early plays were performed at the Court Theatre, including Great Expectations (1871), Creatures of Impulse (1871), Broken Hearts (1875) and 1873’s hugely controversial The Happy Land.
The current building was built on the site of its predecessor and opened as the Royal Court theatre in 1888 with a capacity of 841 on four levels and for a number of years it staged almost exclusively the work of George Bernard Shaw. After a brief stint as a cinema in the late 1930’s, bomb damaged wrecked the interior and forced the Royal Court to close. Reopened with a smaller capacity of around 500, the English Stage Company took the Royal Court on and remain in residence there to this day, producing new British and international plays and classical revivals. In 1969, further renovations inside the theatre created two separate spaces, which are now the 380 seat Jerwood Theatre Downstairs and the 80 seat Jerwood Theatre Upstairs. Although the Royal Court is predominantly known for its plays, the Theatre Upstairs was the venue for the world premiere of Richard O’Brien’s The Rocky Horror Show in 1973.
Notable productions include:
Look Back In Anger (1956)
A Patriot For Me (1965)
The Rocky Horror Show (1973)
That Face (2007)
Close to:
Peter Jones
Kings Road
Knightsbridge
Contact Details
Royal Court Theatre
Sloane Square
SW1W 8AS
For all ticket enquiries, call:
0871 789 1004
Map
Facilities
Theatre capacity:
Dowstairs 400
Upstairs 80
Stage door location:
The Royal Court stage door is located just off Sloane Street to the left of the theatre building.
Theatre layout:
The Theatre Downstairs is arranged on three levels, stalls, Dress Circle and Upper Circle. Because the auditorium is narrow, there are no central aisles and the end seats towards the front of the stalls and in the Dress Circle have slightly sidelined views. In the Upper Circle, shorter people may have trouble seeing over a safety rail in the front row.
The seating in the Theatre Upstairs is usually in one block with eight rows on unreserved bench seating. Arrive early to avoid being squashed up against a wall.
Air conditioned:
Yes
