Hampstead Theatre: Difference between revisions

Hampstead Theatre

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Address	Eton Avenue Swiss Cottage, London
Owner	Hampstead Theatre Company
Designation	RIBA Award 2003
Type	Flexible stage and seating
Capacity	140-325 seated on two levels 80 seated (Michael Frayn Space)
Construction
Opened	2003
Years active	Since 1964 (other premises)
Architect	Bennetts Associates
Website
www.hampsteadtheatre.com

Hampstead Theatre is a theatre in Hampstead, in the London Borough of Camden. It specialises in commissioning and producing new writing.

The original theatre (The Hampstead Theatre Club) was created in a Scout Hall in 1959. James Roose-Evans was the first Artistic Director. The 1959 season included The Dumb Waiter and The Room by Harold Pinter, Eugene Ionesco's Jacques and The Sport of My Mad Mother by Ann Jellicoe.

In 1962 the company moved to a portacabin in Swiss Cottage where it remained for nearly 40 years.

In 2003 the new, purpose-built Hampstead Theatre opened in Swiss Cottage. The main auditorium sits between 150 and 325 people. There is also a studio theatre - The Michael Frayn Space.

• James Roose-Evans (1959-71)
• Vivian Matalon
• Michael Rudman
• David Aukin
• Michael Attenborough
• Jenny Topper
• Anthony Clark (since 2003)

Playwrights who have had their early work produced at the theatre include:

• Simon Block
• Michael Frayn
• Brian Friel
• Terry Johnson
• Hanif Kureishi
• Mike Leigh
• Abi Morgan
• Rona Munro
• Tamsin Oglesby
• Harold Pinter
• Philip Ridley
• Shelagh Stephenson
• Debbie Tucker Green
• Crispin Whittell
• Roy Williams

• Hampstead Theatre Official website
• [1] 2003 interview with Artistic Director Jenny Topper by Aleks Sierz