www.avignonleoff.com While most UK readers will have heard of, and probably indeed attended the Edinburgh Fringe, I imagine that only few will know about the Avignon Off festival. The similarities between the two are striking: they were both founded in 1947, they both attract hundreds of companies and thousands of tourists, they each last for three weeks every summer and, ironically, they both tout themselves as the largest theatre festival in the world. Sometimes it seems like the organisers of ...

Theatre Royal Haymarket OUR OPINION  Before I wrote this, I knew very little about the Theatre Royal Haymarket, but I have always appreciated its luxurious interior, and it has provided me with some of the most memorable nights of theatre in my life (for instance, Waiting for Godot and Flare Path). Despite this, I had never really thought about its history. The research that I have done for this piece however has completely changed my perspective. So much so in ...

The Old Vic, London Nobody can deny that The Old Vic, located by Waterloo Road near the Southbank, is one of the most prominent theatres on the London scene. With its consistently high-quality productions, great location and grade II-listed building, The Old Vic is a refreshing and exciting alternative to the West End, a fact that few would disagree with. What many people may not know however, is that from its humble beginnings as a second-class theatre in 1818, and ...

The National Theatre, London Southbank More commonly known as the National Theatre, or more affectionately known as the National, the Royal National Theatre of Great Britain is the leading subsidised theatre in the UK. It was founded in 1963, and was originally based in The Old Vic. In 1976 the current premises on the South Bank, designed by architects Sir Dennis Lasden and Peter Softley, was opened with three different performance spaces: the Olivier, the Lyttleton and the Cottesloe. Today, ...