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St Martins Theatre

St. Martin's Theatre
St Martin's Theatre, Covent Garden, London-2April2010.jpg
St. Martin's Theatre in 2010
Address West Street
London, WC2
United Kingdom
Coordinates 51°30′46″N 0°07′39″W / 51.512778°N 0.1275°W / 51.512778; -0.1275
Public transit London Underground Leicester Square
Owner Lord Willoughby de Broke and Stephen Waley-Cohen
Designation Grade II listed
Type West End theatre
Capacity 550
Production The Mousetrap (since 25 March 1974)
Construction
Opened 23 November 1916; 100 years ago (1916-11-23)
Architect W. G. R. Sprague
Website
The Mousetrap official website

St Martin's Theatre is a West End theatre which has staged the production of The Mousetrap since March 1974, making it the longest continuous run of any show in the world.

The theatre is located in West Street, near Shaftesbury Avenue, in the West End of London. It was designed by W. G. R. Sprague as one of a pair of theatres, along with the Ambassadors Theatre, also in West Street. Richard Verney, 19th Baron Willoughby de Broke, together with B. A. (Bertie) Meyer, commissioned Sprague to design the theatre buildings. Although the Ambassadors opened in 1913, construction of the St Martin's was delayed by the outbreak of the First World War. The theatre is still part-owned by the present Lord Willoughby de Broke, with Stephen Waley-Cohen.

The first production at the St Martin's was the spectacular Edwardian musical comedy Houp La!, starring Gertie Millar, which opened on 23 November 1916. The producer was the impresario Charles B. Cochran, who took a 21-year lease on the new theatre.

Many famous British actors passed through the St Martin's. In April 1923 Basil Rathbone played Harry Domain in R.U.R. and in June 1927 Henry Daniell appeared there as Gregory Brown in Meet the Wife. Successes at the theatre included Hugh Williams's play (later a film) The Grass is Greener, John Mortimer's The Wrong Side of the Park, and in 1970 the thriller Sleuth.


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