St Martin's Theatre
 St. Martin's Theatre in 2010 | |
 | |
| Address | West Street London,WC2 United Kingdom |
|---|---|
| Coordinates | 51°30′46″N0°07′39″W/ 51.512778°N 0.1275°W |
| Public transit |  Leicester Square |
| Owner | Lord Willoughby de BrokeandStephen Waley-Cohen |
| Designation | Grade II listed |
| Type | West End theatre |
| Capacity | 550 |
| Production | The Mousetrap(since 25 March 1974) |
| Construction | |
| Opened | 23 November 1916 |
| Architect | W. G. R. Sprague |
| Website | |
| The Mousetrapofficial website | |
St Martin's Theatreis aWest End theatrewhich has staged the production ofThe Mousetrapsince March 1974, making it the longest continuous run of any show in the world.
The theatre is located in West Street, nearShaftesbury Avenue,in theWest End of London.It was designed byW. G. R. Spragueas one of a pair of theatres, along with theAmbassadors Theatre,also in West Street.Richard Verney, 19th Baron Willoughby de Broke,together with B. A. (Bertie) Meyer, commissioned Sprague to design the theatre buildings. Although the Ambassadors opened in 1913, construction of the St Martin's was delayed by the outbreak of theFirst World War.The theatre is still owned by the present Lord Willoughby de Broke and his family.
The first production at the St Martin's was the spectacularEdwardian musical comedyHoup La!,starringGertie Millar,which opened on 23 November 1916.[1][2]The producer was the impresarioCharles B. Cochran,who took a 21-year lease on the new theatre.[3]
Many famous British actors passed through the St Martin's. In April 1923Basil Rathboneplayed Harry Domain inR.U.R.and in June 1927Henry Daniellappeared there as Gregory Brown inMeet the Wife.Successes at the theatre includedHugh Williams's play (later a film)The Grass is Greener,John Mortimer'sThe Wrong Side of the Park,and in 1970 the thrillerSleuthwhich starredMarius Goringfor a long run as Andrew Wyke.
After Cochran, Bertie Meyer ran the theatre intermittently until 1967, when his son R. A. (Ricky) Meyer became administrator for the next two decades. The St Martin's has beenlisted Grade IIon theNational Heritage List for Englandsince March 1973.[4] In March 1974Agatha Christie'sThe Mousetraptransferred from the Ambassadors to the St Martin's, where it continued its run until 16 March 2020 when the show had to be suspended due to theCOVID-19 pandemic in the United Kingdom,holding the record for the longest continuously running show in the world. On 17 May 2021, the show was the first West End show to re-open[5]and as of October 2022[update]has exceeded 26,000 performances at the St Martin's.
References
[edit]- Notes
- ^"A Cosy New Theatre", inThe Times,24 November 1916, p. 11
- ^Wearing, J. P.,The London stage, 1910–1919: a calendar of plays and players,vol. 1 (Scarecrow Press, 1982)
- ^Cochran, Charles Blake.The Secrets of a Showman(1925), p. 224
- ^Historic England."St Martin's Theatre (1379186)".National Heritage List for England.Retrieved17 December2022.
- ^"The Mousetrap Official Site - the world's longest running play in the West End".
- Sources
- Guide to British Theatres 1750–1950,John Earl and Michael Sell pp. 138–9 (Theatres Trust, 2000)ISBN0-7136-5688-3
- Who's Who in the Theatre,edited by John Parker, tenth edition, revised, London, 1947, pps: 477–478 and 1184.
External links
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