Harold Pinter Theatre

Harold Pinter Theatre

Address
6 Panton Street, London, SW1Y 4DN
Capacity
796 people

About

The Harold Pinter Theatre opened on 15 Oct. 1881 as a comic opera house. Its name on opening was the Royal Comedy Theatre, though its ‘Royal’ epithet was dropped in 1884.

The Comedy Theatre helped establish the New Watergate Club in 1956, a society which helped overturn the stage censorship enforced by the Lord Chamberlain’s Office. The formation of the Club meant that the plays banned by the Government could be performed at this venue as it was now being run as a private club rather than a commercial entity. Notable plays in this category include Arthur Miller’s A View from the Bridge and Tennessee Williams’ Cat On A Hot Tin Roof. The censorship was finally overturned in 1968.

Harold Pinter's works were often performed here: The Homecoming, The Caretaker, Moonlight, No-Man’s Land and The Hothouse all enjoyed successful runs, and Pinter directed a production of The Old Masters here in 2004. After his death, it was thought fitting to bestow the honour of naming a theatre after him, and the name was officially changed on 13 Oct. 2011 to the Harold Pinter Theatre. The Ambassador Theatre Group own the Harold Pinter Theatre.

Harold Pinter Theatre Seating Information

The auditorium has four levels – Stalls, Dress Circle, Royal Circle and Balcony. The top three levels are a horseshoe shape around the stalls.

The Stalls is a single block of seats, and offers good sightlines. Some seats are impaired by supportive pillars and the overhang of the Dress Circle.

The Dress Circle doesn’t offer a great raking in the seating, but the view is not affected by the overhang of the Royal Circle.

The Royal Circle seats curve towards the stage more noticeably than the Dress Circle.

The Balcony feels very high in this theatre.

Seating plan

Map and travel info

Harold Pinter Theatre6 Panton Street, London, SW1Y 4DN
Get directions
Nearest tubePicadilly Circus
Directions

Location: West End
Railway station: Charing Cross
Bus numbers: (Haymarket) 3, 6, 12, 13, 19, 23, 38, 88, 139; (Piccadilly Circus) 14, 22, 94
Night bus numbers: (Haymarket) 6, 12, 23, 139, 88, N3, N13, N18, N19, N38, N97, N136, N550, N551; (Piccadilly Circus) 14, 94, N22
Car park: Leicester Square, Whitcomb Street (1min)
Directions from tube: (3mins) Take Coventry Street up to Oxendon Road; the theatre is 100 metres along on the right.

Located in Congestion Charge ZoneYes

Current and upcoming productions at Harold Pinter Theatre

The Hills of California

27 January 2024 - 15 June 2024