PIN Arts Theatre

Drama, comedy and musicals in an intimate setting

The Arts Theatre, winner of Best Theatrical Venue in the 2016 Broadway World Awards, is a small and intimate theatre in Great Newport Street. The Arts is an independent commercial theatre situated in the heart of London’s West End, providing a dynamic programme of entertainment of all genres.

The main house is a 350-seat proscenium arch theatre which has been in operation since 1927. The Above the Arts is a private bar and performance space on the first floor.

The Arts is also home to Rooms at the Arts, two bright and airy studios available for hire for rehearsals and workshops, as well as the Arts Theatre Café and the Covent Garden Cocktail Club.

History

The Art’s Theatre is steeped in theatrical history. The theatre which opened in Great Newport Street, off St Martin’s Lane, in 1927 was intended for the production of new, unlicensed and experimental plays for audiences consisting of subscribing members. Several of its productions transferred to commercial theatres, most notably Gordon Daviot’s Richard of Bordeaux (1932).

Alec Clunes took over the theatre in 1942, producing over a hundred plays in the course of a decade and had the theatre raised to the status of a ‘pocket national theatre’. Clunes’ successor Sir Peter Hall was responsible for the staging of the English premiere in 1955 of Samuel Beckett’s Waiting for Godot, which ran for three hundred performances. In 1960 the Arts staged The Caretaker by Harold Pinter which then subsequently transferred to the West End of a long and successful run.

The Arts now operates as the West End’s smallest commercial receiving house.

TripTide Thoughts

This is a unique theatre, which feels quite personal and, unlike the huge West End theatres delivers an old fashioned theatre night out. Not having been to the Arts before we were not sure what to expect, but it is a real hidden gem of a theatre in a small, intimate auditorium.

The bar is part of the Arts Cafe and is reasonably priced given its location.
Ticket prices were inexpensive for good seats, which makes a refreshing change for the West End.

How to get there

TUBE: LEICESTER SQUARE.
Take the Cambridge Circus exit (Exit 3). We are the first street on the right.

CYCLING: BARCLAYS CYCLE HIRE
Docking stations are available near the theatre on Little Newport Street, St. Martin’s Lane and Moor Street. More information is available on the Barclays Cycle Hire Webpage

PARKING: Currently we are NOT part of the Westminster Theatre Parking Scheme.

Owner

Lucy TripTide

Lucy is a TripTide stalwart and has been with the company since inception. She is a font of knowledge of all things in our metropolis but she has a special penchant for London's historical past. She says:"London is a multi-layered confection of hi...