Ambassadors Theatre

The Ambassadors Theatre was designed by theatre favourite William Sprague, also responsible for the Aldwych and St. Martins. The theatre opened in 1913 and saw the first stage appearances of Ivor Novello and Vivien Leigh (her future husband Laurence Olivier saw her perform here for the first time) in the coming years. Agatha Christie’s ‘The Mousetrap’ was shown here, and would become Britain’s longest running play – look out for the statue in the stalls bar which was given to the theatre by Christie to celebrate.

In 1996 the Royal Court Theatre moved in upstairs and the Ambassadors was effectively converted into two separate spaces, renaming itself the New Ambassadors Theatre. The theatre became known for staging lesser known, risqué productions such as ‘Krapp’s Last Tape’ by Samuel Beckett and Stephen Sondheim’s ‘Sweeney Todd’. In 2007 the theatre reverted back to its original name. Recently ‘Little Shop of Horrors’ and ‘Stomp’ have had successful runs.

Ticket prices vary depending on the seats and can cost anything up to £50. There are usually three matinee performances during the week.