Hampstead Theatre: 60 Years of New Writing

Hampstead Theatre opened in 1959 in a church hall on Eton Avenue, with a mandate to produce new writing. In the 65 years since, it has become one of the most important theatres in Britain — not the largest or the most famous, but the one most consistently associated with plays that change the conversation.

The Early Years

The theatre's early years were defined by its willingness to take risks that the mainstream would not. Harold Pinter's The Birthday Party received its London premiere here in 1958 (before the theatre formally opened). Mike Leigh developed his early work through Hampstead. The theatre's reputation as a place where difficult, ambiguous, uncomfortable plays could receive serious productions was established in these years and has not been relinquished.

The Current Building

Hampstead Theatre moved to its current home on Eton Avenue in 2003 — a purpose-built building designed by Bennetts Associates with a main house of 325 seats and a smaller studio space for more experimental work. The building is deliberately undramatic from the outside: the theatre's argument, consistently made, is that the plays are the point, not the architecture.

Visiting

The theatre runs a year-round programme of new plays, with the main house season typically running four or five productions and the studio holding shorter runs of riskier work. Tickets are reasonably priced by London standards and the bar — open before and after performances — is a civilised place to spend an interval or an evening.