Regent's Park Open Air Theatre is an open-air theatre in
Regent's Park
Regent's Park (officially The Regent's Park) is one of the Royal Parks of London. It occupies in north-west Inner London, administratively split between the City of Westminster and the London Borough of Camden, Borough of Camden (and historical ...
in central London, established in 1932. Originally known for its Shakespearean productions, the theatre now features a wide variety of performances, including musicals, operas and plays simplified for children
The theatre

Established in 1932, Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre is one of the largest theatres in London, with 1,304 seats. It is situated in Queen Mary’s Gardens in Regent’s Park, one of London’s
Royal Parks. The theatre’s annual 18-week season is attended by more than 140,000 people each year. In 2017, the theatre was named London Theatre of the Year in
The Stage Awards, and received the Highly Commended Award for London Theatre of the Year in 2021.
Many famous people have performed at the theatre. One of the first was in 1936 when
Vivien Leigh
Vivien Leigh ( ; born Vivian Mary Hartley; 5 November 1913 – 8 July 1967), styled as Lady Olivier after 1947, was a British actress. After completing her drama school education, Leigh appeared in small roles in four films in 1935 and progress ...
played
Anne Boleyn
Anne Boleyn (; 1501 or 1507 – 19 May 1536) was List of English royal consorts, Queen of England from 1533 to 1536, as the Wives of Henry VIII, second wife of King Henry VIII. The circumstances of her marriage and execution, by beheading ...
in
Henry VIII
Henry VIII (28 June 149128 January 1547) was King of England from 22 April 1509 until his death in 1547. Henry is known for his Wives of Henry VIII, six marriages and his efforts to have his first marriage (to Catherine of Aragon) annulled. ...
, three years before she found fame in
Gone with the Wind Gone with the Wind most often refers to:
* Gone with the Wind (novel), ''Gone with the Wind'' (novel), a 1936 novel by Margaret Mitchell
* Gone with the Wind (film), ''Gone with the Wind'' (film), the 1939 adaptation of the novel
Gone with the Wind ...
. Subsequent actors and actresses include
Anna Neagle
Dame Florence Marjorie Wilcox (''née'' Robertson; 20 October 1904 – 3 June 1986), known professionally as Anna Neagle, was an English stage and film actress, singer, and dancer.
She was a successful box-office draw in British cinema for 2 ...
,
Eileen Atkins
Dame Eileen June Atkins (born 15 June 1934) is an English actress. She has worked in the theatre, film, and television consistently since 1953. In 2008, she won the BAFTA TV Award for Best Actress and the Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting ...
,
Bernard Bresslaw
Bernard Bresslaw (25 February 193411 June 1993) was an English actor and comedian. He was best known as a member of the '' Carry On'' film franchise. Bresslaw also worked on television and stage, performed recordings and wrote a series of poetr ...
,
Jeremy Irons
Jeremy John Irons (; born 19 September 1948) is an English actor. Known for his roles on stage and screen, he has received numerous accolades including an Academy Award, a Tony Award, three Primetime Emmy Awards, and two Golden Globe Awards, ...
,
Michael Gambon
Sir Michael John Gambon (; 19 October 1940 – 27 September 2023) was an Irish-English actor. Gambon started his acting career with Laurence Olivier as one of the original members of the Royal National Theatre. Over his six-decade-long career ...
,
Kate O’Mara,
Lesley Garrett
Lesley Garrett, CBE (born 10 April 1955) is an English soprano singer, musician, broadcaster and media personality who is noted for being at home in opera and "crossover music".
Early life
Garrett was born in the town of Thorne, near Doncas ...
,
Richard E. Grant,
Ralph Fiennes
Ralph Nathaniel Twisleton-Wykeham-Fiennes (; born 22 December 1962) is an English actor, film producer, and director. He has received List of awards and nominations received by Ralph Fiennes, various accolades, including a British Academy Film ...
,
Hugh Bonneville
Hugh Richard Bonniwell Williams (born 10 November 1963), known professionally as Hugh Bonneville, is an English actor. He is best known for portraying Robert Crawley, Earl of Grantham, in the ITV historical drama series ''Downton Abbey'' from ...
,
Damian Lewis
Damian Watcyn Lewis (born 11 February 1971) is a British actor, musician and producer. He rose to prominence portraying U.S. Army Major Richard Winters in the HBO miniseries ''Band of Brothers (miniseries), Band of Brothers''. Lewis won a Prime ...
,
Benedict Cumberbatch
Benedict Timothy Carlton Cumberbatch (born 19 July 1976) is an English actor. He has received List of awards and nominations received by Benedict Cumberbatch, various accolades, including a BAFTA TV Award, a Primetime Emmy Award and a Laurenc ...
,
Sheridan Smith.
Judi Dench
Dame Judith Olivia Dench (born 9 December 1934) is an English actress. Widely considered one of Britain's greatest actors, she is noted for her versatility, having appeared in films and television, as well as for her numerous roles on the stage ...
, who has had a long relationship with the theatre, is currently Patron.
History
In 1932, the New Theatre (now 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 ...
) was left without a show after the early closure of a play by
Benito Mussolini
Benito Amilcare Andrea Mussolini (29 July 188328 April 1945) was an Italian politician and journalist who, upon assuming office as Prime Minister of Italy, Prime Minister, became the dictator of Fascist Italy from the March on Rome in 1922 un ...
. Producer
Robert Atkins and theatre critic Sydney Carroll presented a ‘black and white’ production of ''Twelfth Night'' which subsequently transferred to a makeshift theatre in Regent's Park, thus establishing Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre.
The first full season, in 1933, included a revival of the previous year’s ''Twelfth Night'' and the first of the theatre's almost 50 productions of ''
A Midsummer Night’s Dream.''
In 1939, Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre and the
Windmill Theatre were the only two theatres to remain open throughout World War II.
In 1963, actors and directors
David Conville and
David William established the New Shakespeare Company as a non-profit distributing company with distinguished actor and director
Laurence Olivier
Laurence Kerr Olivier, Baron Olivier ( ; 22 May 1907 – 11 July 1989) was an English actor and director. He and his contemporaries Ralph Richardson and John Gielgud made up a trio of male actors who dominated the British stage of the m ...
as one of the key investors. Conville remained associated with the theatre for 50 years and, following his death in 2018, artist Lee Simmons was commissioned to design a sculpture for the theatre grounds.
The theatre’s current fixed amphitheatre-style auditorium was constructed in 1974 and has had subsequent refurbishments.
The theatre’s first original musical,
Bashville, was performed in 1983. Notable productions in the theatre’s history include a gala performance in 2002 for the
Queen's Golden Jubilee (attended by The Queen and The Duke of Edinburgh).
In 2008, ''A Midsummer Night’s Dream'' ''re-imagined for everyone aged six and over'' was the first ‘re-imagined’ production at the venue especially created for children. This was followed by various subsequent ‘re-imagined’ titles including ''
Macbeth
''The Tragedy of Macbeth'', often shortened to ''Macbeth'' (), is a tragedy by William Shakespeare, estimated to have been first performed in 1606. It dramatises the physically violent and damaging psychological effects of political ambiti ...
'' (2010) ''
Pericles
Pericles (; ; –429 BC) was a Greek statesman and general during the Golden Age of Athens. He was prominent and influential in Ancient Athenian politics, particularly between the Greco-Persian Wars and the Peloponnesian War, and was acclaimed ...
'' (2011), and ''Oliver Twist'' (2017).
The New Shakespeare Company became Regents Park Theatre Ltd in 2010, in light of the move away from producing Shakespeare-only plays. In 2015, the theatre launched a digital archive to enable audiences to explore all of the productions across its history. The archive continues to be updated.
In 2018, the venue co-produced its first opera with
English National Opera
English National Opera (ENO) is a British opera company based in London, resident at the London Coliseum in St Martin's Lane. It is one of the two principal opera companies in London, along with The Royal Opera. ENO's productions are sung in E ...
,
''The Turn of the Screw''. This partnership led to the 2019 production of
Humperdinck’s
''Hansel and Gretel'' which included an ensemble of children from the Pimlico Musical Foundation.
In 2020, Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre was the first to open during the coronavirus pandemic with a socially distanced production of ''
Jesus Christ Superstar
''Jesus Christ Superstar'' is a sung-through rock opera with music by Andrew Lloyd Webber and lyrics by Tim Rice. Loosely based on the Life of Jesus in the New Testament, Gospels' accounts of Passion of Jesus, the Passion, the work interprets ...
: The Concert''.
Awards
†also for ''
The Crucible
''The Crucible'' is a 1953 play by the American playwright Arthur Miller. It is a dramatized and partially fictionalized story of the Salem witch trials that took place in the Province of Massachusetts Bay from 1692 to 1693. Miller wrote ...
''
Beyond the park
Various Open Air Theatre productions have gone on to be presented beyond the theatre itself. The first overseas transfer was of the 1956 productions of ''
Hamlet
''The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark'', often shortened to ''Hamlet'' (), is a Shakespearean tragedy, tragedy written by William Shakespeare sometime between 1599 and 1601. It is Shakespeare's longest play. Set in Denmark, the play (the ...
'' and ''Twelfth Night'' when the theatre was invited to perform at the Baalbek Festival in Lebanon. In 2011, ''Crazy For You'' transferred to the West End’s
Novello Theatre
The Novello Theatre is a West End theatre on Aldwych, in the City of Westminster. It was known as the Strand Theatre between 1913 and 2005.
History
The theatre was built as one of a pair with the Aldwych Theatre on either side of The Waldo ...
and, the following year, Sheader and director Liam Steel re-directed their 2010 production of ''Into The Woods'' in Central Park, New York for
The Public Theater
The Public Theater is an arts organization in New York City. Founded by Joseph Papp, The Public Theater was originally the Shakespeare Workshop in 1954; its mission was to support emerging playwrights and performers.Epstein, Helen. ''Joe Papp: ...
.
Productions that have toured the UK following seasons at the Open Air Theatre include: ''The Pirates of Penzance, High Society, To Kill A Mockingbird'' (also a month-long residency at the
Barbican Centre
The Barbican Centre is a performing arts centre in the Barbican Estate of the City of London, England, and the largest of its kind in Europe. The centre hosts classical and contemporary music concerts, theatre performances, film screenings a ...
), ''Lord of the Flies'', ''Running Wild'' and ''Pride and Prejudice''.
The most widely seen production from Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre is the 2016 production of ''Jesus Christ Superstar''. After a second sell-out season in 2017, the production played a limited engagement at the
Lyric Opera of Chicago
Lyric Opera of Chicago is an American opera company based in Chicago, Illinois. The company was founded in Chicago in 1954, under the name 'Lyric Theatre of Chicago' by Carol Fox (Chicago opera), Carol Fox, Nicola Rescigno and Lawrence Kelly, w ...
in 2018 before transferring to the Barbican in 2019. The show has since toured North America, the UK and Ireland and Australia.
In 2025, the 2024 production of ''Fiddler on the Roof'' will run at the
Barbican Centre
The Barbican Centre is a performing arts centre in the Barbican Estate of the City of London, England, and the largest of its kind in Europe. The centre hosts classical and contemporary music concerts, theatre performances, film screenings a ...
in the summer before embarking on a UK and Ireland tour.
Management
References
* ''Guide to British Theatres 1750–1950'', John Earl and Michael Sell, pp. 129–130 (Theatres Trust, 2000). .
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Regent's Park Open Air Theatre
Theatres in the City of Westminster
1932 establishments in England
Outdoor theatres
Producing house theatres in London
Regent's Park
Buildings and structures in Regent's Park