Westminster Theatre
Encyclopedia
The Westminster Theatre was a London theatre
, on Palace Street in Westminster
. It was originally built as the Charlotte Chapel in 1766, which was altered and given a new frontage for use as a cinema from 1924 onwards. It finally became a theatre in 1931 after radical alterations. By the time it fell out of use in the late 20th century, it had been remodelled twice more (in 1966 and 1972) and had three storeys, a 560 seat main house and a 100 seat studio theatre
.
The theatre was bought by the Westminster Memorial Trust in April 1946 as a memorial to men in Moral Re-Armament
who gave their lives in World War II. The Trust held it for more than thirty years. In the 1950s and 1960s it was the base for Furndel Productions, run by actor Alan Badel
and producer William Anthony Furness
. A long campaign to save it from demolition by its then owners ended when a fire destroyed 75% of the building on 27 June 2002, with demolition coming soon afterwards.
In May 2009, plans for a new 314-seat theatre and a smaller cabaret stage, flats and a restaurant, all situated on the site of the original building, were given approval by Westminster City Council.
Theatre
Theatre is a collaborative form of fine art that uses live performers to present the experience of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place. The performers may communicate this experience to the audience through combinations of gesture, speech, song, music or dance...
, on Palace Street in Westminster
Westminster
Westminster is an area of central London, within the City of Westminster, England. It lies on the north bank of the River Thames, southwest of the City of London and southwest of Charing Cross...
. It was originally built as the Charlotte Chapel in 1766, which was altered and given a new frontage for use as a cinema from 1924 onwards. It finally became a theatre in 1931 after radical alterations. By the time it fell out of use in the late 20th century, it had been remodelled twice more (in 1966 and 1972) and had three storeys, a 560 seat main house and a 100 seat studio theatre
Studio Theatre
A studio theatre is a 20th-century term that describes a small theatre space. Studio theatres often have a flexible auditorium whose stage and seating may be re-arranged to suit the specific requirements of a production...
.
The theatre was bought by the Westminster Memorial Trust in April 1946 as a memorial to men in Moral Re-Armament
Moral Re-Armament
Moral Re-Armament was an international Christian moral and spiritual movement that, in 1938, developed from the American minister Frank Buchman's Oxford Group. Buchman, a Lutheran, headed MRA for 23 years, from 1938 until his death in 1961...
who gave their lives in World War II. The Trust held it for more than thirty years. In the 1950s and 1960s it was the base for Furndel Productions, run by actor Alan Badel
Alan Badel
Alan Fernand Badel was a distinguished English stage actor who also appeared frequently in the cinema, radio and television and was noted for his richly textured voice which was once described as "the sound of tears".-Early life:...
and producer William Anthony Furness
William Anthony Furness, 2nd Viscount Furness
William Anthony Furness, 2nd Viscount Furness , was a British peer.Furness was born in Melton Mowbray, England, the only child of Marmaduke Furness, 1st Viscount Furness, and his second wife, Thelma Furness, Viscountess Furness , an American socialite...
. A long campaign to save it from demolition by its then owners ended when a fire destroyed 75% of the building on 27 June 2002, with demolition coming soon afterwards.
In May 2009, plans for a new 314-seat theatre and a smaller cabaret stage, flats and a restaurant, all situated on the site of the original building, were given approval by Westminster City Council.
Notable productions
- Harley Granville BarkerHarley Granville-BarkerHarley Granville-Barker was an English actor-manager, director, producer, critic and playwright....
's WasteWaste (play)Waste is a play by the English author Harley Granville Barker. It exists in two wholly different versions, from 1906 and 1927. The first version was refused a license by the Lord Chamberlain and had to be performed privately by the Stage Society in 1907; the second was finally staged in public at...
, 1936, directed by the author. The first full public production. - Oscar WildeOscar WildeOscar Fingal O'Flahertie Wills Wilde was an Irish writer and poet. After writing in different forms throughout the 1880s, he became one of London's most popular playwrights in the early 1890s...
's An Ideal HusbandAn Ideal HusbandAn Ideal Husband is an 1895 comedic stage play by Oscar Wilde which revolves around blackmail and political corruption, and touches on the themes of public and private honour...
, 1943, with Martita HuntMartita HuntMartita Hunt was an English theatre and film actress.-Early life:Hunt was born in Buenos Aires, Argentina on 30 January 1900 to British parents Alfred and Marta Hunt...
as Mrs Cheveley - Eden and Adelaide Phillpott's comedy Yellow SandsYellow SandsYellow Sands is a play which opened at the Haymarket Theatre, London in 1925, where it ran for 610 performances, and at the Fulton Theatre, New York on September 10, 1927, where it ran for 25 performances, closing in October 1927. It was written by Eden Phillpotts and his daughter Adelaide...
, from 29 March 1945, with Cedric HardwickeCedric HardwickeSir Cedric Webster Hardwicke was a noted English stage and film actor whose career spanned nearly fifty years...
as Richard Varwell - Henry VHenry V (play)Henry V is a history play by William Shakespeare, believed to be written in approximately 1599. Its full titles are The Cronicle History of Henry the Fifth and The Life of Henry the Fifth...
, July 1953, Elizabethan Theatre Company, notable as the first London play ever to be directed by John BartonJohn Barton (director)John Bernard Adie Barton CBE is a theatrical director. He is the son of Sir Harold Montagu and Lady Joyce Barton. He married Anne Righter, a university lecturer, in 1968....
. - The DuennaThe DuennaThe Duenna is a three-act comic opera, mostly composed by Thomas Linley the elder and his son, Thomas Linley the younger, to an English-language libretto by Richard Brinsley Sheridan...
( Music: Julian SladeJulian SladeJulian Penkivil Slade was an English writer of musical theatre best known for the show Salad Days, which he wrote in six weeks in 1954 and became the UK's longest-running show of the 1950s with over 2,288 performances....
Lyrics & Book: Dorothy Reynolds) London production, opened 28July 1954 and ran for 134 performances - British Touring Shakespeare CompanyBritish Touring Shakespeare CompanyThe British Touring Shakespeare Company is a professional UK touring theatre company, based in Bristol, England.The company was founded in 1999 by Miles Gregory and Dominic Jinks, Master of Fine Art students at the University of Exeter...
, HamletHamletThe Tragical History of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark, or more simply Hamlet, is a tragedy by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written between 1599 and 1601...
, 2002