Hotels near Gielgud Theatre, London

Author & Researcher: Howard for Hotel-Assist London

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HOTELS: GIELGUD THEATRE LONDON

35 Shaftesbury Avenue

London

Greater London 

W1D 6AR

GB

Closest tube: Piccadilly Circus and Charing Cross

Hotels: Shaftesbury Piccadilly [4*], Thistle Piccadilly [3*], Royal Trafalgar [4*],  Le Meridien [4*]

Parking: NCP Wardour Street, Newport Place, Denman Street, Lexington Street

Buses: 14, 19, 38

The Gielgud Theatre has 889 seats set over three levels, and was completely refurbished in 2008. Its programme is an interesting mixture of the popular and the more daring. Along with the Duke of Yorks it maintains a varied and diverse programme that features both new work and revivals, musicals, comedies and straight theatre, in the great tradition of the West End theatres.

The Gielgud Theatre opened in 1906 as the Hicks Theatre, after the actor, manager, and playwright Seymour Hicks. It was originally designed, as were many theatres, by W.G.R. Sprague, and it is one of a pair with the Queens Theatre which opened on an adjacent street corner the following year. It was renamed the Globe Theatre in 1909, and continues to be called this until 1992, when fears arose that this would cause confusion with Sam Wanamakers Shakespeares Globe that was about to open on the South Bank of the Thames. To avoid this confusion, the theatre changed its name to the Gielgud, after the actor John Gielgud, one of the few entertainers to have won an Oscar, an Emmy, a Grammy, and a Tony. It has continued as the Gielgud Theatre until the present day.

The theatre has three licensed bars, with access to the foyer bar from thre wheelchair space, as there are no steps between the two. There is a cloakroom available at the theatre, with items being charged at £1each. Guide dogs are allowed into the auditorium, and there is an infra-red system for the hard of hearing, although you should phone in advance to book the compatible headsets. The theatre originally held slightly more seats, but as the boxes have been removed the number who could be seated has dropped slightly.

The Gielgud Theatre is situated on Shaftesbury Avenue, perhaps the most famous street in London for theatres. It is easily accessible from the centre of town, with the closest tube stations being Piccadilly Circus and Leicester Square. It is also easily reached from Charing Cross, Covent Garden, Oxford Circus, Tottenham Court Road, and Covent Garden. The closest mainline railway station is Charing Cross. The buses 14, 19, and 38 will take you to the theatre, and if you wish to drive, you can find blue badge parking in Archer Street and Chinatown. There is also NCP parking at Wardour Street, Newport Place, Denman Street, and Lexington Street. Be aware if you are driving to the theatre during the daytime that you will incur the congestion charge.

The Gielgud is part of the Delfont Mackintosh Group, and its recent productions have been a true mix of high-culture and high-populism. The theatre housed both Frost/Nixon and the version of Equus that starred Daniel Radcliffe; the RSCs Canterbury Tales and the Broadway transfer of Hair. With a diverse and interesting programme in the best traditions of popular West End theatre, the Gielgud is well worth checking out whenever you happen to be in London. It has both the old and the new, the broad and the refined, risk-takers and shows that cant fail to please; in short, it has something for everyone.