London venues
London Theatres
Every West End, Off-West-End and fringe venue in one place. Seating plans, ratings, what's on and instant booking.
Your guide to London's theatres
London's West End is home to some of the world's most famous theatres. From grand Victorian playhouses like the Palace Theatre and Theatre Royal Drury Lane to intimate fringe venues across the city, each theatre has its own character and history. Browse every venue below to see what's currently playing, check ratings from real theatregoers and book tickets.
84 theatres · 51 with shows on sale
West End theatres38
Apollo Theatre
Shaftesbury Avenue
Shaftesbury Avenue, London W1D 7EZ
Adelphi Theatre
The Strand / Aldwych
409-412 Strand, London WC2R 0NS
Dominion Theatre
Tottenham Court Road
268-269 Tottenham Court Road, London W1T 7AQ
Harold Pinter Theatre
Haymarket / St James's
Panton Street, London SW1Y 4DN
Lyric Theatre
Shaftesbury Avenue
29 Shaftesbury Avenue, London W1D 7ES
Theatre Royal Haymarket
Haymarket / St James's
Theatre Royal Haymarket, Haymarket, London SW1Y 4HT, United Kingdom
Cambridge Theatre
Covent Garden
Earlham Street, London WC2H 9HU
Duchess Theatre
Covent Garden
3-5 Catherine Street, London WC2B 5LA
Garrick Theatre
Leicester Square
Charing Cross Road, London WC2H 0HH
The Tom Stoppard Theatre
Covent Garden
St Martin’s Lane, London WC2N 4BG
Wyndham's Theatre
Leicester Square
Charing Cross Road, London WC2H 0DA
Aldwych Theatre
The Strand / Aldwych
49 Aldwych, London WC2B 4DF
Ambassadors Theatre
Covent Garden
West Street, London WC2H 9ND
Apollo Victoria Theatre
Victoria
17 Wilton Road, London SW1V 1LG
Criterion Theatre
Piccadilly Circus
218-223 Piccadilly, London W1V 9LB
Gielgud Theatre
Shaftesbury Avenue
Shaftesbury Avenue, London W1D 6AR
Gillian Lynne Theatre
Covent Garden
166 Drury Lane, London WC2B 5PW
His Majesty's Theatre
Haymarket / St James's
Haymarket, London SW1Y 4QL
Lyceum Theatre
Covent Garden
21 Wellington Street, London WC2E 7RQ
Noel Coward Theatre
Covent Garden
St. Martin's Lane, London WC2N 4AU
Novello Theatre
The Strand / Aldwych
Aldwych, London WC2B 4LD
Palace Theatre
Shaftesbury Avenue
113 Shaftesbury Avenue, London W1D 5AY
Phoenix Theatre
Covent Garden
Charing Cross Road, London WC2H 0JP
Piccadilly Theatre
Piccadilly Circus
The Piccadilly Theatre, 16 Denman St, London W1D 7DY, United Kingdom
Prince Edward Theatre
Soho
Old Compton Street, London W1D 4HS
Prince of Wales Theatre
Leicester Square
Coventry Street, London W1D 6AS
Savoy Theatre
The Strand / Aldwych
Savoy Court, The Strand, London WC2R 0ET
Shaftesbury Theatre
Shaftesbury Avenue
210 Shaftesbury Avenue, London WC2H 8DP
Sondheim Theatre
Shaftesbury Avenue
51 Shaftesbury Avenue, London W1D 6BA
St. Martin's Theatre
Covent Garden
West Street, London WC2H 9NZ
Theatre Royal Drury Lane
Covent Garden
Catherine Street, London WC2B 5JF
Trafalgar Theatre
Whitehall
14 Whitehall, London SW1A 2DY
Vaudeville Theatre
The Strand / Aldwych
404 Strand, London WC2R 0NH
Victoria Palace Theatre
Victoria
126 Victoria St, London SW1E 5EA
@sohoplace
Soho
sohoplace, 4 Soho Pl, Charing Cross Rd
Fortune Theatre
Covent Garden
Russell Street, London WC2B 5HH
London Palladium
Oxford Circus
8 Argyll Street, London W1F 7TF
Playhouse Theatre
Charing Cross
Northumberland Avenue, London WC2N 5DE
Off-West-End & producing houses29
London Coliseum
Covent Garden
St Martin's Lane, London WC2N 4ES
Shakespeare's Globe
Bankside / Southwark
New Globe Walk, Bankside
Lyric Hammersmith Theatre
Hammersmith
Lyric Square King St
Troubadour Wembley Park Theatre
Wembley
3 Fulton Road, Wembley, London HA9 0SP
Charing Cross Theatre
Charing Cross
The Arches, Villiers Street, London WC2N 6NL
The Old Vic
Southbank
The Old Vic, The Cut, London SE1 8NB, United Kingdom
Barbican Theatre
Barbican / The City
Silk Street, London EC2Y 8DS
Bloomsbury Theatre
Bloomsbury
The Bloomsbury Theatre, 15 Gordon St., London WC1H 0AH, United Kingdom
Bridge Theatre
Tower Bridge
3 Potters Fields Park, London SE1 2SG
Sadler's Wells Theatre
Islington
Rosebery Avenue
Sam Wanamaker Playhouse
Bankside / Southwark
Sam Wanamaker Playhouse, 21 New Globe Walk, Bankside, London SE1 9DT, United Kingdom
Almeida Theatre
Islington
Almeida Street, London N1 1TA
Donmar Warehouse
Covent Garden
41 Earlham Street, London WC2H 9LX
Hackney Empire
Hackney
291 Mare Street, London E8 1EJ
Hampstead Theatre
Hampstead
Eton Avenue, Swiss Cottage, London NW3 3EU
Kiln Theatre
Kilburn
269 Kilburn High Road, London NW6 7JR
Menier Chocolate Factory
Bankside / Southwark
53 Southwark Street, London SE1 1RU
National Theatre
Southbank
Upper Ground, South Bank, London SE1 9PX, United Kingdom
Park Theatre
Finsbury Park
Clifton Terrace, London N4 3JP
Peacock Theatre
Holborn
Portugal Street, London WC2A 2HT
Regent's Park Open Air Theatre
Regent's Park
Inner Circle, Regent's Park, London NW1 4NR
Rose Theatre Kingston
Kingston
24-26 High Street, Kingston upon Thames, London KT1 1HL
Royal Court Theatre
Sloane Square
Sloane Square, London SW1W 8AS
Royal Opera House
Covent Garden
Bow Street, London WC2E 9DD
Soho Theatre
Soho
21 Dean Street, London W1D 3NE
Southwark Playhouse Borough
Bankside / Southwark
77-85 Newington Causeway, London SE1 6BD
The Other Palace
Victoria
The Other Palace Theatre, 12 Palace St, London SW1E 5JA, United Kingdom
The Young Vic
Southbank
66 The Cut, London SE1 8LZ
Wilton's Music Hall
East End
Graces Alley, London E1 8JB
Concert halls & arenas5
ABBA Arena
Stratford
Pudding Mill Lane, London E15 2RU
Alexandra Palace Theatre
Alexandra Palace
Alexandra Palace Way, London N22 7AY
Eventim Apollo
Hammersmith
45 Queen Caroline Street, London W6 9QH
Royal Albert Hall
South Kensington
Kensington Gore, London SW7 2AP
Royal Festival Hall
Southbank
Belvedere Road, London SE1 8XX
More London venues12
Comedy Carnival Covent Garden
42 Earlham St
Kit Kat Club
The Kit Kat Club, Northumberland Ave, London WC2N 5DE, United Kingdom
Marylebone Theatre
35 Park Rd
Riverside Studios
35 Park Rd
Troubadour Canary Wharf
Crossrail Place, London E14 5AR
1901 Arts Club
7 Exton St, London SE1 8UE
Arts Theatre
6-7 Great Newport Street, London WC2H 7JB
Brixton House
Brixton House, 385 Coldharbour Ln, London SW9 8GL
Deptford Storehouse
Off, Deptford Storehouse, King Street
Southbank Centre Queen Elizabeth Hall
Queen Elizabeth Hall, Southbank Centre, Belvedere Road, London SE1 8XX
The Comedy Store
1a Oxendon St
The Vaults
Launcelot St
London Theatres: A Complete Guide to the West End and Beyond
London is home to the busiest and most celebrated theatre scene in the world, and its beating heart is the West End. When people talk about seeing a show in London, they almost always mean the West End, the cluster of commercial theatres packed into the centre of the city. It sits roughly between Covent Garden, Soho and Leicester Square, framed by Shaftesbury Avenue to the north, the Strand to the south and Haymarket to the west. Within that compact area you will find around 40 major West End theatres, staging everything from long-running musicals and new plays to opera, dance and one-off events. Most are within a ten to fifteen minute walk of one another, so it is easy to browse what is on and pick a night out.
It helps to understand how London's stages are grouped. The West End refers to the big commercial houses, the London equivalent of Broadway, where blockbuster musicals and star-led plays run. Off-West-End covers the ambitious mid-sized producing theatres just outside that commercial core, venues such as the Almeida, the Young Vic, the Bush and Hampstead Theatre, which are known for new writing and bold revivals that often transfer into the West End later. The fringe is the grassroots layer, smaller independent spaces, many of them above pubs or in converted rooms, where new talent and experimental work get their first airing. Separate again are London's concert halls, including the Royal Albert Hall, the Southbank Centre's Royal Festival Hall, the Barbican and Cadogan Hall, which are built for orchestras, choirs and live music rather than staged drama.
The West End itself breaks down into a handful of walkable theatre districts. Shaftesbury Avenue is the classic theatreland strip, lined with the Lyric, the Apollo, the Gielgud, the Sondheim and, at its Cambridge Circus end, the grand Palace Theatre. The Strand and neighbouring Aldwych form a second corridor, home to the Savoy, the Vaudeville, the Adelphi, the Aldwych and the Novello. Covent Garden holds some of the most historic addresses of all, including the Theatre Royal Drury Lane and the Royal Opera House, plus the Cambridge, the Fortune and the Donmar Warehouse. A little to the west, Haymarket is anchored by the elegant Theatre Royal Haymarket and the imposing His Majesty's Theatre. Knowing these clusters makes it simple to plan an evening, and to pair a show with dinner nearby.
A few superlatives help you get your bearings. The largest theatre in the West End is the London Coliseum, home of English National Opera, seating roughly 2,359 people under its distinctive glass globe. Among the very oldest is the Theatre Royal Drury Lane, where a playhouse has stood on the same site since 1663, making it the oldest theatre site in continuous use in London, though the current building dates from 1812. At the other end of the timeline is @sohoplace, which opened in 2022 as the first brand new West End theatre built in around 50 years. London also holds records for endurance. The Mousetrap at St Martin's Theatre has been running since 1952 and is the longest-running show in the world, while Les Misérables at the Sondheim Theatre is the longest-running musical. The Lion King at the Lyceum is another fixture that draws visitors year after year.
Getting to the theatres could hardly be easier, because the West End is one of the best connected parts of London. Leicester Square and Covent Garden stations sit right in the middle of theatreland, while Piccadilly Circus, Charing Cross, Tottenham Court Road and Embankment all put you within a short stroll of the stage door. Buses and taxis serve the area well too, though the Underground is usually quickest. If you are driving, central London charges apply and parking is limited, so public transport is the sensible choice for an evening show.
When it comes to booking, most West End productions perform Monday to Saturday, typically with an evening performance and one or two matinees during the week, often on Wednesday, Thursday and Saturday. Curtain up is usually in the early evening, with matinees in the afternoon. Popular titles can sell out weeks ahead, so it pays to book in advance for the dates you want, while quieter midweek nights sometimes open up more choice. With tickadoo you can browse London theatres and current shows in one place, compare what is on across venues and secure your seats online. If you go to the theatre often, tickadoo+ membership is the place to look for added value on the shows you love. Whether you are after a landmark musical, a gripping new play or a night at the opera, this guide is your starting point for finding the right London theatre and the right seats.
Frequently asked questions
- How many theatres are in London's West End?
- There are around 40 major theatres in London's West End, the commercial theatres represented by the Society of London Theatre. Counting Off-West-End producing houses, fringe venues and concert halls, London as a whole has well over 100 places to see live performance.
- Which is the biggest theatre in London?
- The London Coliseum is the largest theatre in the West End, seating roughly 2,359 people. It is home to English National Opera and is easy to spot by the illuminated glass globe on its roof.
- What is the oldest West End theatre?
- The Theatre Royal Drury Lane is the oldest theatre site in continuous use in London, with a playhouse on the spot since 1663. The current building dates from 1812, so while the theatre you see today is not the original, the address has staged shows for over 350 years.
- What is the newest West End theatre?
- @sohoplace, near Tottenham Court Road, opened in 2022 as the first brand new West End theatre built in around 50 years. It has a flexible in-the-round design that can be reconfigured for different productions.
- Where are the West End theatres located?
- They are concentrated in central London around Covent Garden, Soho and Leicester Square. The main clusters are Shaftesbury Avenue, the Strand and Aldwych, Covent Garden including Drury Lane, and Haymarket, all within easy walking distance of one another.
- What is the difference between the West End and Off-West-End?
- The West End is the group of large commercial theatres that stage blockbuster musicals and star-led plays, the London equivalent of Broadway. Off-West-End refers to the ambitious mid-sized producing theatres just outside that core, such as the Almeida and the Young Vic, which are known for new writing and bold revivals that sometimes transfer into the West End.
- What is the longest-running show in the West End?
- The Mousetrap at St Martin's Theatre has been running since 1952 and is the longest-running show in the world. Les Misérables at the Sondheim Theatre holds the record for the longest-running musical.
- How do I get to the West End by tube?
- Leicester Square and Covent Garden stations sit in the middle of theatreland, and Piccadilly Circus, Charing Cross, Tottenham Court Road and Embankment are all a short walk away. The Underground is usually the quickest way to reach a show, as central London driving charges apply and parking is limited.
- Are London's concert halls part of the West End?
- No. Concert halls such as the Royal Albert Hall, the Royal Festival Hall at the Southbank Centre, the Barbican and Cadogan Hall are separate venues built for orchestras, choirs and live music rather than staged theatre, and most sit outside the West End theatre district.
- When are West End performances and how do I book tickets?
- Most West End shows perform Monday to Saturday, usually with an evening performance and one or two weekday and weekend matinees. Popular titles sell out weeks ahead, so booking early for your chosen date is wise. You can browse London theatres and current shows and book your seats with tickadoo, and if you go often, tickadoo+ membership is where to look for added value.