Lyric Theatre
Shaftesbury Avenue, London, W1V 7HA

Nearest underground:
Piccadilly Circus (Piccadilly Line, Bakerloo Line)

Nearest rail:
Charing Cross

The oldest of all the surviving Shaftesbury Avenue theatres, the Lyric was designed by C. J. Phipps and opened in 1888. Suitably enough for its name, the Lyric’s early productions were light operattas and this continued until well into the 1920s. The theatre’s modest and not altogether enticing entrance leads into a beautiful interior, resplendent in red, cream and gilt. Some of the most famous actors of latter days have appeared on its stage; in 1893 Italian Eleanora Duse who refused to wear make-up and could blush or pale at will, French actress Sarah Bernhardt in 1898, and later, Laurence Olivier, Vivien Leigh, Judi Dench, Alec Guinness and Bob Hoskins, to mention just a few.

In 1975 the king of farce Ben Travers, then 90-years-old, provided a new hit at the Lyric, The Bed Before Yesterday, starring Helen Mirren and Joan Plowright. Playwright Alan Ayckbourn had successes here with How The Other Half Loves (1972) and A Chorus Of Disapproval (1986). The theatre’s last very good run, from 1990 to 1995, was provided by the musical based on the songs of Louis Jordan, Five Guys Named Moe.

What's on at Lyric Theatre

< back