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Venue Information
One of London’s cosier theatres at less than 500 seats, the Duchess has a basic seating structure and very simple design – and some of the nicest toilets the West End has to offer!
Travel
Nearest Tube Station:
Covent Garden
Tube Lines:
Piccadilly
Directions From Tube:
(5mins) Go right on Long Acre; turn right into Bow Street and after 100 metres turn left (Russell Street) then immediately right onto Catherine Street, where the theatre is located 100 metres down.
Bus Numbers:
(Aldwych) RV1, 6, 11, 13, 23, 59, 68, 87, 171, 172, 188, X68
Night Bus Numbers:
(Aldwych) 6, 23, 188, N11, N13, N26, N47, N68, N87, N89, N155, N171, N551
Nearest Rail Station:
Charing Cross
Nearest Car Park:
Drury Lane, Parker Street (5mins)
Duchess Theatre
3-5 Catherine Street, London, WC2B 5LA
History
The Duchess Theatre was lucky to have been built at all. Its site, which happens to have been bombed during a raid in the First World War, was affected by the archaic ‘Ancient Lights’ rule – that is, building was prohibited to not block any natural light coming to other buildings. The solution? Build the theatre mostly underground, with the circle at street level.
And so the Duchess Theatre opened its doors in 1929, with new decorations added to it in 1934 with the guidance of JB Priestley’s (An Inspector Calls) wife, Mary Wyndham Lewis. Its earliest big successes were Noel Coward’s ghost fantasy Blithe Spirit, which transferred and completed its near-2000 performance run, and the shared debut of Harold Pinter’s The Caretaker, Pinter’s first triumph in the West End.
Among its longest-running productions, Oh Calcutta! called the Duchess Theatre home for much of the 1970s, while The Players’ Theatre Company (ejected from residency at the current Charing Cross Theatre) stayed for three years in the late 1980s. Marc Camoletti’s Don’t Dress for Dinner stayed there for five years in the 1990s too.
Although a relatively young theatre, rather impressively it still retains many of its original fixtures – its curtain, stage and some backstage equipment, as well as a lift with its original compartment. But don’t worry: the 80 year old lift is operated with new mechanisms!
Inside Track
The Duchess Theatre has the dubious honour of having hosted the shortest run on the West End ever. The play The Intimate Revue was forced to cancel its run without ever completing their first performance after audience members walked out halfway through.
The stalls and stage are below street level.
Its stage and iron curtain are originals over eighty years old and still in use.
Seat Plan
Nearest Restaurants
Make the most of your trip on the town with a delicious meal before the show. Check out our top recommendations below. All these restaurants are just a stone’s throw away from your theatre. So you can relax before enjoying a slice of world class entertainment. Simply add your theatre tickets to your basket and select the restaurant of your choice.
