The Criterion Theatre is a
West End theatre
West End theatre is mainstream professional theatre staged in the large theatres in and near the West End of London.Christopher Innes, "West End" in ''The Cambridge Guide to Theatre'' (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1998), pp. 1194–1 ...
at
Piccadilly Circus in the
City of Westminster
The City of Westminster is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and London boroughs, borough in Inner London. It is the site of the United Kingdom's Houses of Parliament and much of the British government. It occupies a large area of cent ...
, and is a
Grade II* listed building
In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Irel ...
. It has a seating capacity of 588.
Building the theatre
In 1870, the caterers
Spiers Spiers is an English surname. Notable people with the surname include:
* Alexander Spiers (1807–1869), English lexicographer
*Bob Spiers (1945–2008), British television director
*Cyril Spiers (1902–1967), former English professional football ...
and
Pond
A pond is an area filled with water, either natural or artificial, that is smaller than a lake. Defining them to be less than in area, less than deep, and with less than 30% emergent vegetation helps in distinguishing their ecology from th ...
began development of the site of the White Bear, a seventeenth-century posting inn. The inn was located on sloping ground stretching between
Jermyn Street
Jermyn Street is a one-way street in the St James's area of the City of Westminster in London, England. It is to the south of, parallel, and adjacent to Piccadilly. Jermyn Street is known as a street for gentlemen's-clothing retailers.
Hist ...
and
Piccadilly Circus, known as Regent Circus. A competition was held for the design of a concert hall complex, with
Thomas Verity
Thomas Verity (1837–1891) was an English theatre architect during the theatre building boom of 1885–1915.
Verity began his career articled in the architecture department of the War Office, assisting in the erection of the South Kensi ...
winning out of 15 entries. He was commissioned to design a large restaurant, dining rooms, ballroom, and galleried concert hall in the basement. The frontage, which was the façade of the restaurant, showed a
French Renaissance
The French Renaissance was the cultural and artistic movement in France between the 15th and early 17th centuries. The period is associated with the pan-European Renaissance, a word first used by the French historian Jules Michelet to define th ...
influence using
Portland stone
Portland stone is a limestone from the Tithonian stage of the Jurassic period quarried on the Isle of Portland, Dorset. The quarries are cut in beds of white-grey limestone separated by chert beds. It has been used extensively as a building sto ...
.
After the building work began, it was decided to change the concert hall into a theatre. The composers' names, which line the tiled staircases, were retained and can still be seen. The redesign placed the large Criterion Restaurant and dining rooms above the theatre, with a ballroom on the top floor.
When Spiers and Pond applied for a licence to operate, the authorities were unhappy because the theatre was underground and lit by gas, creating the risk of toxic fumes. The Metropolitan Board of Works had to vote twice before the necessary licence was issued, and fresh air had to be pumped into the auditorium to prevent the audience from being asphyxiated. It was not until October 1881, at the Savoy, that the first theatre was lit electrically.
The building was completed in 1873 with the interior decoration carried out by W. B. Simpson & Sons.
Early years
The first production opened on 21 March 1874 under the management of
Henry J. Byron
Henry James Byron (8 January 1835 – 11 April 1884) was a prolific English dramatist, as well as an editor, journalist, director, theatre manager, novelist and actor.
After an abortive start at a medical career, Byron struggled as a provincial ...
& EP Hingston. The programme consisted of ''An American Lady'' written and performed by Byron and a piece by
W. S. Gilbert
Sir William Schwenck Gilbert (18 November 1836 – 29 May 1911) was an English dramatist, librettist, poet and illustrator best known for his collaboration with composer Arthur Sullivan, which produced fourteen comic operas. The most f ...
, with music by
Alfred Cellier
Alfred Cellier (1 December 184428 December 1891) was an English composer, orchestrator and conductor.
In addition to conducting and music directing the original productions of several of the most famous Gilbert and Sullivan works and writing t ...
, entitled ''
Topsyturveydom
''Topsyturveydom'' (sometimes spelled ''Topsyturvydom'' or ''Topseyturveydom'') is a one-act operetta by W. S. Gilbert with music by Alfred Cellier. Styled "an entirely original musical extravaganza", it is based on one of Gilbert's Bab Ballad ...
''. The event apparently did not make much of an impression on Gilbert. In a 1903 letter to
Thomas Edgar Pemberton
Thomas Edgar Pemberton (1 July 1849 – 28 September 1905) was an English novelist, playwright and theatrical historian.
Early career
Born on 1 July 1849, he was the eldest son of Thomas Pemberton, the head of an old-established firm of brass foun ...
, author of the book on The Criterion, Gilbert wrote: "I am sorry to say that in my mind is an absolute blank to the opening of The Criterion. I never saw ''Topseyturveydom''. If you happen to have a copy of it and could lend it to me for a few hours it might suggest some reminiscences: as it is I don't even know what the piece was about!" Gilbert had, however, been back at the theatre in 1877 with his farce, ''On Bail'' (a revised version of his 1874 work, ''Committed for Trial''); in 1881, with another farce, ''
Foggerty's Fairy
''Foggerty's Fairy'', subtitled "An Entirely Original Fairy Farce", is a three-act farce by W.S. Gilbert based loosely on Gilbert's short story, "The Story of a Twelfth Cake", which was published in the Christmas Number of ''The Graphic'' in 18 ...
''; and in 1892, with a
comic opera
Comic opera, sometimes known as light opera, is a sung dramatic work of a light or comic nature, usually with a happy ending and often including spoken dialogue.
Forms of comic opera first developed in late 17th-century Italy. By the 1730s, a ne ...
, ''
Haste to the Wedding
''Haste to the Wedding'' is a three-act comic opera with a libretto by W. S. Gilbert and music by George Grossmith, based on Gilbert's 1873 play, ''The Wedding March''. The opera was the most ambitious piece of composition undertaken by Grossmi ...
'', with music by
George Grossmith
George Grossmith (9 December 1847 – 1 March 1912) was an English comedian, writer, composer, actor, and singer. His performing career spanned more than four decades. As a writer and composer, he created 18 comic operas, nearly 100 musical ...
(an operatic version of Gilbert's 1873 play, ''The Wedding March''). ''
Haste to the Wedding
''Haste to the Wedding'' is a three-act comic opera with a libretto by W. S. Gilbert and music by George Grossmith, based on Gilbert's 1873 play, ''The Wedding March''. The opera was the most ambitious piece of composition undertaken by Grossmi ...
'' was a flop, but it introduced the 18-year-old
George Grossmith, Jr.
George Grossmith Jr. (11 May 1874 – 6 June 1935) was an English actor, theatre producer and manager, director, playwright and songwriter, best remembered for his work in and with Edwardian musical comedies. Grossmith was also an important inn ...
, the composer's son, to the London stage. The younger Grossmith would go on to become a major star in
Edwardian musical comedies
Edwardian musical comedy was a form of British musical theatre that extended beyond the reign of King Edward VII in both directions, beginning in the early 1890s, when the Gilbert and Sullivan operas' dominance had ended, until the rise of the A ...
.
Charles Wyndham became the manager and lessee in 1875, and under his management the Criterion became one of the leading light comedy houses in London. The first production under the manager was ''The Great Divorce Case'', opening on 15 April 1876. When Wyndham left in 1899 to open his own theatre, The
Wyndham's Theatre
Wyndham's Theatre is a West End theatre, one of two opened by actor/manager Charles Wyndham (the other is the Criterion Theatre). Located on Charing Cross Road in the City of Westminster, it was designed c.1898 by W. G. R. Sprague, the archit ...
(and then the New Theatre, now called the
Noël Coward Theatre
The Noël Coward Theatre, formerly known as the Albery Theatre, is a West End theatre in St. Martin's Lane in the City of Westminster, London. It opened on 12 March 1903 as the New Theatre and was built by Sir Charles Wyndham behind Wyndham's ...
, in 1903) he remained the lessee bringing in various managements and their companies.
In March 1883, the theatre closed for alterations demanded by the Metropolitan Board of Works. The pumping of fresh air into the ten-year-old auditorium, some thirty feet below street level, was deemed unsatisfactory. Thomas Verity supervised the alterations (Verity by now had also designed the
Comedy Theatre
The Harold Pinter Theatre, known as the Comedy Theatre until 2011, in 1881 and the
Empire Theatre in 1882). The new direct access ventilation shaft meant cutting off a considerable portion of the adjoining Criterion Restaurant. New corridors were built, with several new exits. The auditorium was reconstructed and the stage re-equipped. The old dressing rooms were demolished and new ones built. Most importantly, electricity was installed. ''Dramatic Notes'' (1884) states "The Criterion Theatre, transformed from a stuffy band-box to a convenient, handsome, and well ventilated house, reopened on April 16". Further alterations and redecorations took place in 1902–03, when the theatre was closed for seven months.
20th century
Between the world wars, productions included ''Musical Chairs'' with
John Gielgud
Sir Arthur John Gielgud, (; 14 April 1904 – 21 May 2000) was an English actor and theatre director whose career spanned eight decades. With Ralph Richardson and Laurence Olivier, he was one of the trinity of actors who dominated the Briti ...
and in 1936, ''French Without Tears'' which ran for 1,039 performances and launched the writing career of
Terence Rattigan
Sir Terence Mervyn Rattigan (10 June 191130 November 1977) was a British dramatist and screenwriter. He was one of England's most popular mid-20th-century dramatists. His plays are typically set in an upper-middle-class background.Geoffrey Wan ...
.
During the Second World War, the Criterion was requisitioned by the
BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC
Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...
...
– and light entertainment programmes were both recorded and broadcast live.
After the war, the Criterion repertoire included avant-garde works such as
''. The early part of 1956 saw the arrival of
.
In the 1970s, the Criterion site was proposed for redevelopment, which caused protest, as people feared the theatre would be lost. In February 1975, the GLC Planning Committee approved the development on the condition that the theatre continued in "full, continuous and uninterrupted use" while the redevelopments took place. Throughout the 1970s and early 1980s the argument increased, and the Equity Save London's Theatre Committee organised high-profile demonstrations (campaigners included
) as they feared that the theatre would still be lost.
In the 1980s, the theatre building was purchased by Robert Bourne, a property tycoon and patron of the arts, and his wife, theatre impresario
. The couple set up the Criterion Theatre Trust, a registered charity created to protect the Criterion's future. From 1989 to 1992 the theatre was renovated both in the back and front of the house. During that time, the block that exists today was built around it. After the refurbishment, the Criterion retains a well-preserved Victorian auditorium with an intimate atmosphere. Major productions in the last two decades of the century included ''
'' (1983–1989).
(1935). In 2016
'' opened. It played its final performance on 15 March 2020 due to the
. More than a year later, the musical ''
'' opened on 20 May 2021 running until 25 September 2021.
'' followed opening on 15 October 2021 running until 6 February 2022. ''
'' opened on 10 May 2022 and is scheduled to run until 4 September.