London Venues

Question of the week: London has hundreds of venues, for all types of performances. Do you have any particular favourites?

"A short while ago, a friend asked me to recommend a couple of not-too-obvious theatres in London, if I knew of any. I managed to mentally scrape together one or two and began to write an email. Then I continued to write. Then I wrote a bit more. Soon enough, I found that I'd written enough to completely exhaust and bewilder any reader - too much for a friendly email and definitely too long for a blog post. However, these were the venues that came immediately to mind and I found I couldn't whittle the list down into anything less unwieldy. So, here it is: I present my list to you in all its lumpy, tiring, inelegant glory.

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Old Vic - Just because Kevin Spacey is the director doesn't make it populist; it is a bit old fashioned in the chandelier-and-sweeping-staircase style, however.

Young Vic - The Old Vic's recalcitrant younger sibling. No Kevin Spacey.

Royal Court** - Probably my favourite of the medium-sized theatres; it's one of London's best established but it doesn't feel like it. Productions are always outstanding - it's serious theatre. There are 'mainhouse' productions in the larger auditorium and more experimental works in the upstairs studio. Two nice bars, as well.

Donmar Warehouse - Again, medium sized and well-established, but certainly worth checking out.

Almeida Theatre* - Lovely small-to-medium sized venue with very inventive staging and consistently excellent productions.

Trafalgar Studios - For when you want to see a decent quality production without walking too far.

Southwark Playhouse - Now we're getting down to the less obvious venues. I can't comment on the drama, as I've only ever seen stand-up comedy here, but it seems a decent, studio-style theatre, very popular with actors. Surprisingly hard to find, though.

Menier Chocolate Factory - I'd normally recommend this place as an intimate venue to see well produced contemporary theatre, but they seem to be showing some dreadful-sounding musical at the moment. The restaurant is, I'm told, also worth investigating.

New Players Theatre - Again, actors love it as it serves as a bridge between fringe theatre and the West End (which, I think, best describes the performances you'll find here, too).

Hampstead Theatre - This is a trendy venue that concentrates on new writing: almost all of the productions staged here have never been performed before. Of course, what that means is that of the two plays I've seen here, one was fantastic and one was embarrassingly poor.

Orange Tree Theatre - This place is in Richmond, so off the beaten track in a lot of senses. It's a very intimate venue, with plays usually performed in-the-round, though as it concentrates on play revivals, quality can be variable.

Arcola Theatre - In a small community theatre such as this, things can seem a little cobbled together at times, but it's always full of surprises and very vibrant.

Tristan Bates Theatre - This place seems to be run by and for actors, which means that sometimes productions seem more like showcases for individuals than coherent pieces in their own right, but that also means you can see a few things here that are extremely unusual indeed.

King's Head* - This is a real theatre, but it's also the back room of a pub. As with all of the smallest venues production quality can vary, but I like visiting this place for its own sake. Also, if you don't like the performance, the beer is exceedingly well-kept, they have roaring open fires and often jazz bands through the night once the play has finished.

Old Red Lion - Another pub theatre with a surprising variety of shows on all at the same time.

There! That's probably enough to keep you going for now! In addition, however, please don't overlook the National Theatre for being too obvious. If you fancy seeing something that isn't strictly dramatic theatre, I'd also recommend The Place, which is a contemporary dance theatre (not everybody's cup of tea, I know) [try getting a 'return ticket', which is only slightly more expensive than a standard ticket, but will get you in to any other show at no additional cost] and The Comedy Store as a stand-up venue which usually combines amateurs and big-name professionals on the same bill.

I feel quite exhausted now.'
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Phew! I stand by what I said there and would endorse any of these places happily. Mind you, I'm very easily pleased - try for yourself picking somewhere at random and seeing what's on."
- Phillippa

* Photo by Slimmer_Jimmer, used under Creative Commons, with thanks.