Off West End refers to theatres in
London
London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...
which are not included as
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 ...
s. The term is a relatively recent one, coined after the similar American term "
off-Broadway
An off-Broadway theatre is any professional theatre venue in New York City with a seating capacity between 100 and 499, inclusive. These theatres are smaller than Broadway theatres, but larger than off-off-Broadway theatres, which seat fewer tha ...
" (though without the same strict definition). It is usually used synonymously with the more widespread term ''
Fringe
Fringe may refer to:
Arts
* Edinburgh Festival Fringe, the world's largest arts festival, known as "the Fringe"
* Adelaide Fringe, the world's second-largest annual arts festival
* Fringe theatre, a name for alternative theatre
* The Fringe, the ...
'' (or, specifically, "the London Fringe"), but sometimes is also used to refer to more mainstream or commercial theatre which is located within London but outside the centre, or to especially small and non-commercial theatres located within the centre. According to
London Theatre, "Smaller theatres, including many pub theatres, are called Fringe, although some of these small theatres are also called Off West End, particularly those located in the
West End of London
The West End of London (commonly referred to as the West End) is a district of Central London, west of the City of London and north of the River Thames, in which many of the city's major tourist attractions, shops, businesses, government buil ...
, where most of the big commercial theatres are. These small theatres can vary in size, with seating capacities of around 40 to 400."
While West End Theatres must register with the
Society of London Theatre
The Society of London Theatre (SOLT) is an umbrella organisation for West End theatre in London. Founded in 1908, as Society of West End Theatre Managers, then Society of West End Theatre in 1975, changing to its current name in 1994, the (SOLT) ...
, SOLT membership for the Off West End is entirely optional and is not widespread. The industry organisation for Off West End and Fringe venues is the
Society of Independent Theatres.
Venues
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Almeida Theatre
The Almeida Theatre, opened in 1980, is a 325-seat producing house with an international reputation, which takes its name from the street on which it is located, off Upper Street, in the London Borough of Islington. The theatre produces a diver ...
*
Arcola Theatre
Arcola Theatre is an Off West End theatre in the London Borough of Hackney. It presents plays, operas and musicals featuring established and emerging artists.
The theatre building, in the former Colourworks paint factory on Ashwin Street, Dalst ...
*
Arts Depot
The artsdepot is a multi-purpose cultural centre located in North Finchley, in the London borough of Barnet. It was officially opened on 23 October 2004 for the enjoyment and development of the arts in North London.
Activities
The venue compr ...
*
Battersea Arts Centre
The Battersea Arts Centre ("BAC") is a performance space specialising in theatre productions. Located near Clapham Junction railway station in Battersea, in the London Borough of Wandsworth, it was formerly Battersea Town Hall. It is a Grade ...
*
Bloomsbury Theatre
The Bloomsbury Theatre is a theatre on Gordon Street, Bloomsbury, in the London Borough of Camden, owned by University College London. The Theatre has a seating capacity of 547 and offers a professional programme of innovative music, drama, come ...
*
Bridewell Theatre
Bridewell Theatre is a small theatre based in Blackfriars in London. It is operated as part of the St Bride Foundation Institute, named after nearby St Bride's Church on Fleet Street
Fleet Street is a major street mostly in the City of Lo ...
*
Bush Theatre
The Bush Theatre is located in the Passmore Edwards Public Library, Shepherd's Bush, in the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham. It was established in 1972 as a showcase for the work of new writers. The Bush Theatre strives to create a spa ...
*
Charing Cross Theatre
The Charing Cross Theatre is a theatre under The Arches off Villiers Street below Charing Cross station. Founded in 1936, the venue occupied several premises in the West End of London before locating to its present site. The current site was o ...
*
Courtyard
A courtyard or court is a circumscribed area, often surrounded by a building or complex, that is open to the sky.
Courtyards are common elements in both Western and Eastern building patterns and have been used by both ancient and contemporary ...
*
Donmar Warehouse
The Donmar Warehouse is a 251-seat, not-for-profit theatre in Covent Garden, London, England. It first opened on 18 July 1977.
Sam Mendes, Michael Grandage and Josie Rourke have all served as artistic director, a post held since 2019 by Micha ...
*
Finborough Theatre
The Finborough Theatre is a fifty-seat theatre in the West Brompton area of London (part of the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea) under artistic director Neil McPherson. The theatre presents new British writing, as well as UK and world p ...
*
Greenwich Theatre
Greenwich Theatre is a local theatre located in Croom's Hill close to the centre of Greenwich in south-east London.
Theatre first came to Greenwich at the beginning of the 19th century during the famous Eastertide Greenwich Fair at which the Ric ...
*
Hampstead Theatre
Hampstead Theatre is a theatre in South Hampstead in the London Borough of Camden. It specialises in commissioning and producing new writing, supporting and developing the work of new writers. Roxana Silbert has been the artistic director since ...
*
Hoxton Hall
Hoxton Hall is a performance arts theatre and community centre in the Hoxton area of Shoreditch, at 130 Hoxton Street, in the London Borough of Hackney.
A grade II* listed building, the theatre was first built as a Music hall in 1863, as MacDonal ...
*
Jacksons Lane
Jacksons Lane Arts Centre (JLAC) is a multi-arts venue in Highgate, north London, located in a Grade II listed former Wesleyan Methodist church. The building is home to a 170 capacity theatre, a large scale dance and rehearsal studio, a cafe-bar ...
*
Jermyn Street Theatre
Jermyn Street Theatre is a performance venue situated on Jermyn Street, in London's West End. It is an off-west end studio theatre.
History
Jermyn Street Theatre opened in August 1994. It was formerly the changing rooms for staff at a Spaghetti ...
*
King's Head Theatre
The King's Head Theatre, founded in 1970 by Dan Crawford, is an off-West End venue in London. It is the second oldest operating pub theatre in the UK. In 2021, Mark Ravenhill became Artistic Director and the theatre focusses on producing LGBTQ ...
*
Leicester Square Theatre
The Leicester Square Theatre is a 400-seat theatre in Leicester Place, immediately north of Leicester Square, in the City of Westminster, London. It was previously known as Notre Dame Hall, Cavern in the Town and The Venue. The theatre hosts st ...
*
Stockwell Playhouse
Stockwell Playhouse (known as the LOST Theatre until 2015) was a 180-seat Off West End Fringe theatre based in Stockwell, South London, dedicated to promoting and developing young and emerging talent.
A variety of different shows were produced t ...
*
Lyric Hammersmith
The Lyric Theatre, also known as the Lyric Hammersmith, is a theatre on Lyric Square, off King Street, Hammersmith, London.
*
Menier Chocolate Factory
The Menier Chocolate Factory is a 180-seat off-West End theatre, which comprises a restaurant, bar and rehearsal rooms.
It is located in a former 1870s Menier Chocolate, Menier Chocolate Company factory at 53 Southwark Street, a major street in ...
*
Millfield Arts Centre
Millfield Arts Centre comprises Millfield Theatre and Millfield House in Edmonton and The Dugdale Centre in Enfield Town.
It is owned by London Borough of Enfield
The London Borough of Enfield () is a London borough in North London. It b ...
*
Orange Tree Theatre
The Orange Tree Theatre is a 180-seat theatre at 1 Clarence Street, Richmond in south-west London, which was built specifically as a theatre in the round. It is housed within a disused 1867 primary school, built in Victorian Gothic style.
Th ...
*
The Other Palace
The Other Palace is a theatre in London's Off West End which opened on 18 September 2012 as the St. James Theatre. It features a 312-seat main theatre and a 120-seat studio theatre. It was built on the site of the former Westminster Theatre, w ...
*
Oval House
An oval () is a closed curve in a plane which resembles the outline of an egg. The term is not very specific, but in some areas (projective geometry, technical drawing, etc.) it is given a more precise definition, which may include either one or ...
*
The Park Theatre
The Park Theatre opened in Finsbury Park, north LondonCecilia Sundstrom"Psychopaths, nudity and Maureen Lipman launch new Finsbury Park theatre" ''Hackney Gazette'', 27 March 2013. Retrieved 2013-04-01. in 2013. It describes itself as "a neighbo ...
*
The Print Room
The Coronet Theatre, formerly The Print Room, is an Off West End theatre located in the former Coronet Cinema in London. The building originated as a theatre in 1898; the modern company was founded in Westbourne Grove, West London, and opened i ...
*
Pleasance Theatre
The Pleasance is a theatre, bar, sports and recreation complex in Edinburgh, Scotland, situated on a street of the same name. It is owned by the University of Edinburgh, and for nine months of the year it serves the Edinburgh University Stude ...
*
Rich Mix Cultural Foundation
*
Riverside Studios
Riverside Studios is an arts centre on the banks of the River Thames in Hammersmith, London, England. The venue plays host to contemporary performance, film, visual art exhibitions and television production.
Having closed for redevelopment in ...
*
Rose Theatre
*
Royal Court
A royal court, often called simply a court when the royal context is clear, is an extended royal household in a monarchy, including all those who regularly attend on a monarch, or another central figure. Hence, the word "court" may also be appl ...
*
Rudolf Steiner Theatre
Rudolf Steiner House is a Grade 2 listed building near Regent's Park, London, which is the home of the Anthroposophical Society of Great Britain. It is a cultural hub and contains a library, bookshop, cafe, 220-seat theatre, and a therapy and wel ...
*
Shaw Theatre
The Shaw Theatre is a theatre in Somers Town, in the London Borough of Camden. It is a part of the Pullman London St Pancras hotel, located off Euston Road.
St Pancras library
Before being refurbished in 1998, the Shaw Theatre originally ope ...
*
Soho Theatre
The Soho Theatre is a theatre and registered charity in the Soho district of the City of Westminster, in London, England. It produces and presents new works of theatre, together with comedy and cabaret, across three performance spaces.
The the ...
*
Southwark Playhouse
Southwark Playhouse is a theatre in London, located between Borough and Elephant and Castle tube stations.
History
The Southwark Playhouse Theatre Company was founded in 1993 by Juliet Alderdice and Tom Wilson. They identified the need for a h ...
*
The Albany
The Albany, or simply Albany, is an apartment complex in Piccadilly, London. The three-storey mansion was built in the 1770s and divided into apartments in 1802.
Building
The Albany was built in 1771–1776 by Sir William Chambers for the ne ...
*
The Cockpit The Cockpit can refer to:
* Cockpit Theatre, a 17th-century theatre in London (also known as the Phoenix) that opened in 1616
* The Cockpit Theatre (Marylebone), Cockpit, a theatre in London, England that opened in 1970
* The Cockpit (OVA), ''The C ...
*
The Yard
*
The Pen Theatre
''The'' () is a grammatical Article (grammar), article in English language, English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite ...
*
Theatre Royal Stratford East
The Theatre Royal Stratford East is a 460 seat Victorian producing theatre in Stratford in the London Borough of Newham. Since 1953, it has been the home of the Theatre Workshop company, famously associated with director Joan Littlewood, whose ...
*
Toynbee Studios
*
Tricycle Theatre
The Kiln Theatre (formerly the Tricycle Theatre) is a theatre located in Kilburn, in the London Borough of Brent, England. Since 1980, the theatre has presented a wide range of plays reflecting the cultural diversity of the area, as well as ...
*
Union Theatre
*
Upstairs at the Gatehouse
Upstairs at The Gatehouse is a small pub theatre in Highgate in the London Borough of Camden.
The venue is a refurbished 1895 auditorium, upstairs from the Gatehouse pub, which has served over the years as a music hall, cinema, Masonic lodge, a ...
*
Waterloo East Theatre
Waterloo most commonly refers to:
* Battle of Waterloo, a battle on 18 June 1815 in which Napoleon met his final defeat
* Waterloo, Belgium, where the battle took place.
Waterloo may also refer to:
Other places
Antarctica
*King George Island (S ...
*
Young Vic
The Young Vic Theatre is a performing arts venue located on The Cut, near the South Bank, in the London Borough of Lambeth.
The Young Vic was established by Frank Dunlop in 1970. Kwame Kwei-Armah has been Artistic Director since February 201 ...
The Offies
The Off West End Theatre Awards
Off West End refers to theatres in London which are not included as West End theatres. The term is a relatively recent one, coined after the similar American term " off-Broadway" (though without the same strict definition). It is usually used synon ...
, known as the Offies for short, have been awarded to Off West End theatre productions since 2011.
References
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