Regent's Park Open Air Theatre Logo
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Address | Inner Circle London, NW1 United Kingdom |
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Coordinates | 51°31′44″N 0°09′18″W / 51.529°N 0.155°W |
Public transit | Baker Street |
Owner | Regent's Park Theatre Ltd. |
Type | Open-air theatre, with resident company |
Capacity | 1,200+ seats |
Production | Summer repertory |
Construction | |
Opened | 1932 |
Rebuilt | 1999 |
Website | |
www |
Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre is an open-air theatre based in Regent's Park in central London.
The theatre is located in Queen Mary's Gardens, on the Inner Circle of Regent's Park and consequently is surrounded entirely by parkland. It was founded in 1932 by Sydney Carroll and Robert Atkins. The theatre is completely uncovered; the only sheltered area being underneath the tiered auditorium, which houses one of the longest bars of any theatre in London — stretching the entire length of the seating.
The theatre houses an extensive backstage area complete with green room for the company and technical team, a full wardrobe, makeup and wigs department, a workshop and paintshop for the creation and maintenance of stage sets and numerous offices for stage management, sound, LX and other crew.
Being open air, performances are dependent on the not-so dependable British weather. In the case of wet weather, the Met Office is called to determine the immediate forecast. Shows cannot be held for longer than 45 minutes, especially in the case of matinees as the delayed finish will dramatically interfere with the technical preparations for the evening show.
The theatre is a registered charity, run by an Artistic Director Timothy Sheader and Executive Director William Village. The charity’s Board of Trustees is chaired by Councillor Robert Davis DL, and includes Sir Peter Rogers, Pippa Ailion, Suzy Graham-Adriani, Robert Noble, William Village and Dame Judi Dench. The theatre has also been the inspiration for other open-air theatres around the world, such as the Maynardville Open-Air Theatre in Cape Town and Grosvenor Park Open Air Theatre, Chester.