About Hampstead Theatre
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Hampstead Theatre is an independent producing theatre: it makes its own shows, and it runs without regular public funding, on ticket sales and donations.
Where did Hampstead Theatre start?
It began in 1959 as the Hampstead Theatre Club, in Moreland Hall on Holly Bush Vale in Hampstead village, founded by James Roose-Evans. Harold Pinter was part of it from the early years, and its first season included his play The Sport of My Mad Mother.
In 1962 the company moved to a small studio at Swiss Cottage, where it stayed for nearly 40 years. Writers including Mike Leigh, Michael Frayn, Brian Friel, Hanif Kureishi and debbie tucker green had plays put on there.
The 2003 building
The theatre moved into its present building in 2003, purpose-built and close to the site of the old studio. Since then it has put on plays by David Hare, Howard Brenton, Nina Raine, Simon Stephens, Mike Bartlett and Nick Payne, and actors including Jude Law, Alan Rickman, Zoe Wanamaker and Tamsin Greig have played here.
The Kinks musical Sunny Afternoon started here in 2014 before going into the West End. Other past productions include Tom Stoppard's Indian Ink and Michael Frayn's Copenhagen.
Other venues to know
- Kiln Theatre, 290 seats on Kilburn High Road, another producing theatre in North West London
- Bush Theatre, on Uxbridge Road in Shepherd's Bush, for new plays in West London
- Donmar Warehouse, 251 seats in Seven Dials, a small producing theatre in the West End