The Duchess Theatre is a West End theatre in the City of Westminster, London, located in Catherine Street near Aldwych. The theatre opened on 25 November 1929 and is one of the smallest West End theatres with a proscenium arch. It has 494 seats on two levels. It is a Grade II Listed Building. The theatre is built with the stalls below street level, both to overcome the scale of the site and to maintain the rights of neighbours to ancient lights
Designed by architect Ewen Barr, the Duchess theatre opened on 25th November 1929. This is one of the smallest proscenium-arched theatres in London’s West End. The designers were rather forward-thinking for the time and fixed a series of steel girders to the roof when building the dress circle. This ingenious method meant that no ground level pillars were needed, giving the Duchess theatre a uniquely clear sightline to the stage from nearly every seat in the house.
Some of the most notable productions to have graced the small but perfectly formed stage of the Duchess include the 1935 staging of Emlyn William’s Night Must Fall, Noel Coward's Blithe Spirit in 1942, which transferred from the Piccadilly Theatre to the St James Theatre before moving to the Duchess, where it completed a run of 1,997 performances.
Terence Rattigan's Deep Blue Sea arrived in 1952, Harold Pinter's The Caretaker in 1960. The stage version of Alfie played at the theatre in 1962, where the screenwriter Lewis Gilbert saw it and later turned it into the iconic film. The 1970s heralded the slightly naughty entertainment that was The Dirtiest Show in Town, which ran for just under 800 performances, while in December 1974 the controversial production of Kenneth Tynan’s Oh, Calcutta! transferred from the Royalty theatre and remained at the Duchess until 1980.
Between 1987 and 1990, The Players Theatre Company presented their Late Joys Victorian Music Hall programme at the theatre while their new home under the arches in Villiers Street was being built, now the Charing Cross theatre.
The Duchess theatre has always hosted transferred productions. Back in 1965, Marc Camoletti's farce Boeing Boeing transferred and ran for 2035 performances in just under five years. With a sense of déjà vu, the 1992 production of Camoletti's farce Don't Dress For Dinner transferred to run for an impressive six years.
In more recent times, the theatre has been the home of a variety of plays and musicals including the musical Buddy – The Buddy Holly Story in 2007, plus quality plays including Endgame, Ghosts, Morecambe, Plague Over England, The Pitmen Painters and August Wilson’s Fences staring Lenny Henry.
Notable productions. Noël Coward's Blithe Spirit, which transferred from the Piccadilly Theatre to the St. James's Theatre before moving to the Duchess Theatre where it completed a record run of 1,997 performances in 1942. Bill Naughton's play Alfie played at the Duchess in 1962. Famously, Lewis Gilbert saw the play and immediately contacted the writer with a view to a screen transfer. Tom Eyen's The Dirtiest Show in Town, which ran for just under 800 performances in the 1970s. In December 1974 Oh! Calcutta! transferred to the Duchess Theatre from the Royalty Theatre. Oh! Calcutta! remained at the Duchess until 1980. The Players' Theatre Company presented their Late Joys Victorian Music hall programme between 1987 and 1990. Marc Camoletti's Don't Dress For Dinner which transferred to the Duchess from the Apollo Theatre in October 1992 and stayed until 1 March 1997. The Royal Shakespeare Company's The Herbal Bed by Peter Whelan which ran for six months from April to October 1997.
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Wheelchair user access is provided using the AAT Major Stair Climber. The stair climber accommodates manual wheelchairs up to 66cm (26 inches) wide and 89cm (35 inches) deep including any footrest. The maximum combined weight the Stair Climber can accommodate is 190kg (30 Stones) when distributed evenly across the wheelchair. Electric wheelchair users may be asked to transfer into the theatre’s manual wheelchair on arrival if the theatre staff consider the electric wheelchair unsuitable for transportation on the Stair Climber.
Electric and manual wheelchair users are requested to contact their Access Team via phone or email ahead of purchasing tickets to discuss specific requirements and to book the use of the Stair Climber. They ask that all patrons requiring the use of the Stair Climber arrive at the theatre 45 minutes before the start of the performance. Please click here to watch a short video clip of the Stair Climber in action.
Stalls N1 and J14 provide wheelchair spaces, with companion seats adjacent. There is a fully adapted unisex toilet at the rear of the Stalls auditorium. There are Ladies and Gentlemen’s toilets on all levels.
The theatre bars are located in the Foyer and the Stalls. A member of theatre staff will offer assistance purchasing beverages on behalf of customers. Programmes and Ice Creams are available in the main foyer and auditorium. The theatre is fitted with a Williams Sound hearing assistance system. Headsets are available on a first come first served basis.
For information about disabled parking in Westminster please visit www.parkingforbluebadges.com or visit the Q-Park website www.q-park.co.uk/theatreland. Guide dogs and hearing dogs are welcome. For comfort they recommend purchasing a seat on the end of a row. Alternatively they provide a dog sitting service for 2 dogs at a time; advance booking is recommended. To access the auditorium there are 20 stairs down to the Stalls and 11 stairs up to the Dress Circle.
Location : Duchess Theatre, 3-5 Catherine Street, London WC2B 5LA
Transport: Covent Garden (Piccadilly Line) 4 minutes. London Buses routes : RV1, 6, 11, 13, 23, 59, 68, 87, 171, 172, 188 and X68 stop close by.
Access Line : 0330 333 4815
Tel: 0330 333 4810
