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Hampstead Theatre is a theatre
Theatre

Theatre is the branch of the performing arts defined by Bernard Beckerman as what "occurs when one or more actor, isolated in time and/or Theater , present themselves to Audience." By this broad definition, theatre has existed since the dawn of man, as a result of human tendency for story telling....
 in the vicinity of Swiss Cottage
Swiss Cottage

Swiss Cottage is a landmark in North West London in the London Boroughs of Camden & Westminster.Swiss Cottage is a often misdefined as a district of North West London in the London Borough of Camden....
, in the London Borough of Camden
London Borough of Camden

The London Borough of Camden is a London borough of London, England, which forms part of Inner London. The southern reaches of Camden form part of Central London....
. It specialises in commissioning and producing new writing.

original theatre (The Hampstead Theatre Club) was created in a Scout Hall in 1959. James Roose-Evans
James Roose-Evans

James Roose-Evans is a Great Britain author, playwright, and theatre director.Born in London, Roose-Evans studied at Oxford University, from which he graduated in 1957....
 was the first Artistic Director. The 1959–1960 season included The Dumb Waiter
The Dumb Waiter

The Dumb Waiter is a one-act play by 2005 Nobel Prize in Literature Harold Pinter written in 1957; it premiered at the Hampstead Theatre, on 21 January 1960....
 and The Room
The Room

The Room is Harold Pinter's first play, written and first produced in 1957. Considered by critics the earliest example of Pinter's Comedy of menace, this play has strong similarities to Pinter's second play, The Birthday Party , including features considered hallmarks of Pinter's early work and of the so-called Characteristics of Har...
 by Harold Pinter
Harold Pinter

Harold Pinter, Companion of Honour, Order of the British Empire , an English people playwright, screenwriter, actor, Theatre director, poet, author, political activist, and the 2005 Nobel Prize in Literature, was at the time of his death considered by many "the most influential and imitated dramatist of his generation."...
, Eugene Ionesco
Eugène Ionesco

Eug?ne Ionesco, born Eugen Ionescu , was a Romanian and France playwright and dramatist, one of the foremost playwrights of the Theatre of the Absurd....
's Jacques and The Sport of My Mad Mother by Ann Jellicoe
Ann Jellicoe

Ann Jellicoe is a United Kingdom actor, theatre director and playwright. Although her work has covered many areas of theatre and film, she is best known for "pushing the envelope" of the stage play, devising new forms which challenge and delight unconventional audiences....
.

962 the company moved to a portable cabin in Swiss Cottage
Swiss Cottage

Swiss Cottage is a landmark in North West London in the London Boroughs of Camden & Westminster.Swiss Cottage is a often misdefined as a district of North West London in the London Borough of Camden....
 where it remained for nearly 40 years.

003 the new, purpose-built Hampstead Theatre opened in Swiss Cottage.






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Hampstead Theatre is a theatre
Theatre

Theatre is the branch of the performing arts defined by Bernard Beckerman as what "occurs when one or more actor, isolated in time and/or Theater , present themselves to Audience." By this broad definition, theatre has existed since the dawn of man, as a result of human tendency for story telling....
 in the vicinity of Swiss Cottage
Swiss Cottage

Swiss Cottage is a landmark in North West London in the London Boroughs of Camden & Westminster.Swiss Cottage is a often misdefined as a district of North West London in the London Borough of Camden....
, in the London Borough of Camden
London Borough of Camden

The London Borough of Camden is a London borough of London, England, which forms part of Inner London. The southern reaches of Camden form part of Central London....
. It specialises in commissioning and producing new writing.

Formation of the Company

The original theatre (The Hampstead Theatre Club) was created in a Scout Hall in 1959. James Roose-Evans
James Roose-Evans

James Roose-Evans is a Great Britain author, playwright, and theatre director.Born in London, Roose-Evans studied at Oxford University, from which he graduated in 1957....
 was the first Artistic Director. The 1959–1960 season included The Dumb Waiter
The Dumb Waiter

The Dumb Waiter is a one-act play by 2005 Nobel Prize in Literature Harold Pinter written in 1957; it premiered at the Hampstead Theatre, on 21 January 1960....
 and The Room
The Room

The Room is Harold Pinter's first play, written and first produced in 1957. Considered by critics the earliest example of Pinter's Comedy of menace, this play has strong similarities to Pinter's second play, The Birthday Party , including features considered hallmarks of Pinter's early work and of the so-called Characteristics of Har...
 by Harold Pinter
Harold Pinter

Harold Pinter, Companion of Honour, Order of the British Empire , an English people playwright, screenwriter, actor, Theatre director, poet, author, political activist, and the 2005 Nobel Prize in Literature, was at the time of his death considered by many "the most influential and imitated dramatist of his generation."...
, Eugene Ionesco
Eugène Ionesco

Eug?ne Ionesco, born Eugen Ionescu , was a Romanian and France playwright and dramatist, one of the foremost playwrights of the Theatre of the Absurd....
's Jacques and The Sport of My Mad Mother by Ann Jellicoe
Ann Jellicoe

Ann Jellicoe is a United Kingdom actor, theatre director and playwright. Although her work has covered many areas of theatre and film, she is best known for "pushing the envelope" of the stage play, devising new forms which challenge and delight unconventional audiences....
.

Temporary accommodation

In 1962 the company moved to a portable cabin in Swiss Cottage
Swiss Cottage

Swiss Cottage is a landmark in North West London in the London Boroughs of Camden & Westminster.Swiss Cottage is a often misdefined as a district of North West London in the London Borough of Camden....
 where it remained for nearly 40 years.

New building

In 2003 the new, purpose-built Hampstead Theatre opened in Swiss Cottage. The main auditorium sits between 150 and 325 people. The studio theatre, the Michael Frayn Space, seats up to 80 people and hosts the Hampstead Theatre heat&light company, a youth theatre for ages 10-25. The heat&light company produces 12 productions each year which has previously included new plays by Bola Agbaje, Mike Bartlett, Joel Horwood, Jane Bodie, Ed Hime, Nick Grosso and John Donnelly.

Artistic directors

  • James Roose-Evans (1959-71)
  • Vivian Matalon
    Vivian Matalon

    Vivian Matalon is a United Kingdom award-winning theatre director.Born in Manchester, England, Matalon began his career as an actor in a series of forgettable British films, but his greatest success has been as a director of West End theatre, Broadway theatre, and regional theater productions....
  • Michael Rudman
    Michael Rudman

    Michael Rudman is an American award-winning theatre director.ReferencesExternal links...
  • David Aukin
  • Michael Attenborough
    Michael Attenborough

    The Honourable. Michael John Attenborough is a successful England theatre director. His parents are the actors Richard Attenborough and Sheila Sim....
  • Jenny Topper
  • Anthony Clark (since 2003)


Playwrights

Playwrights who have had their early work produced at the theatre include:
  • Simon Block
  • Michael Frayn
    Michael Frayn

    Michael Frayn is an England playwright and novelist. He is best known as the author of the farce Noises Off and the dramas Copenhagen and Democracy ....
  • Brian Friel
    Brian Friel

    Brian Friel is an Irish people dramatist and theatre director from Northern Ireland....
  • Terry Johnson
    Terry Johnson (dramatist)

    Terry Johnson is a United Kingdom dramatist and director working for stage, television and film. He is a Literary Associate at the Royal Court Theatre....
  • Hanif Kureishi
    Hanif Kureishi

    Hanif Kureishi Order of the British Empire is an England playwright, screenwriter and filmmaker, novelist and short story writer. The themes of his work have touched on topics of Race , nationalism, immigration, and human sexuality....
  • Mike Leigh
    Mike Leigh

    Mike Leigh, Order of the British Empire is an England writer and director of film and theatre. He studied theatre at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art and did his early acting with the Royal Shakespeare Company ....
  • Abi Morgan
  • Rona Munro
    Rona Munro

    Rona Munro is a prize-winning Scotland writer. She has written plays for theatre, radio, and television; was the author of the screenplay of Ken Loach's Ladybird, Ladybird and co-author of Aim?e & Jaguar by Germany director Max F?rberb?ck....
  • Tamsin Oglesby
  • Harold Pinter
    Harold Pinter

    Harold Pinter, Companion of Honour, Order of the British Empire , an English people playwright, screenwriter, actor, Theatre director, poet, author, political activist, and the 2005 Nobel Prize in Literature, was at the time of his death considered by many "the most influential and imitated dramatist of his generation."...
  • Philip Ridley
    Philip Ridley

    Philip Ridley is a British people artist working with various media. His work is characterised by an intriguing mix of both the menacing and the magical....
  • Shelagh Stephenson
    Shelagh Stephenson

    Shelagh Stephenson is a playwright, born in Northumberland and read drama at Manchester University. Her stage plays include The Memory of Water , An Experiment with an Air Pump, Ancient Lights , Five Kinds of Silence and Mappa Mundi ....
  • Debbie Tucker Green
  • Crispin Whittell
  • Roy Williams
    Roy Williams (playwright)

    'Roy Samuel Williams', Order of the British Empire is an England playwright. He was born in London.His plays include:* Night & Day * Josie?s boys ...


External links

  • Official website