Noel Coward Theatre

Noel Coward Theatre, formerly the New Theatre, and then the Albery Theatre, theatre, situated in St Martin’s Lane, London, named after the actor and playwright Noel Coward, who made his West End debut there in 1920. It was designed with interiors in the Louis XVI style by W. G. R. Sprague for actor-manager Charles Wyndham. The New Theatre was built on land acquired by Wyndham opposite the Wyndham's Theatre and opened in 1903 with the play Rosemary by Louis Parker and Murray Carson. Sybil Thorndike appeared in 1924 in the first London production of St Joan by George Bernard Shaw, and in 1935 Laurence Olivier, John Gielgud, and Peggy Ashcroft starred together in an extended run of Romeo and Juliet. In 1941, when Sadler's Wells and the Old Vic fell victim to wartime bombing raids, the New Theatre became home to both companies, hosting acclaimed productions starring Olivier of Richard III (1944) and the Sophocles tragedy Oedipus Rex (1945).

After the departure of the Old Vic in 1950, the New Theatre enjoyed successful runs of The Cocktail Party by T. S. Eliot and Under Milk Wood by Dylan Thomas (1956). However, by far the theatre’s most sustained success was Oliver!, the musical version of Dickens’s Oliver Twist by Lionel Bart, which opened in 1960, running for 2,618 performances (revived, 1977).

In 1973 the theatre was renamed The Albery, in honour of former manager Bronson Albery, and in the same year Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat by Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice transferred there. The following two decades saw more hit musicals, including Blood Brothers (1988) by Willy Russell and Five Guys Named Moe (1995).

It has also played host to the Almeida Theatre, which staged a West End season there in 1998, including two plays by Racine, Phedra and Britannicus starring Diana Rigg and Toby Stephens. In 2000 a critically acclaimed production of Baby Doll by Tennessee Williams transferred from the National, and in 2001 Mouth to Mouth by Kevin Elyot, transferred from the Royal Court. Lindsay Duncan and Alan Rickman co-starred in a revival of Coward’s Private Lives in 2002.

In 2005 the theatre’s lease was acquired by Delfont Mackintosh and the building underwent a major refurbishment programme, reopening in 2006 under the new name, the Noel Coward Theatre. The first production was the musical Avenue Q. The auditorium seats 875.