Lyric Shaftesbury Avenue

The Lyric, Shaftesbury Avenue's oldest theatre was opened in 1888, just two years after the street itself was completed. An indistinct red brick building, it lacks the grandeur of the neighbouring Gielgud and Apollo, but has a charm and unassuming beauty that are all its own. The auditorium is also unconventional, with u-shaped balconies offering fine unrestricted views and bringing the audience closer to the action than in many large theatres. Though designed as a home for comic opera, the Lyric's major successes have been with serious drama. The Kenneth Branagh/Emma Thompson partnership had one of its first major successes in 1989 with Osborne's Look Back in Anger. Alan Bennett's Habeas Corpus premiered here, starring Alec Guinness and with Bennett in drag as Mrs Swabb, the cleaning lady. Other successes include the premier of Alan Ayckbourn's How the Other Half Loves (1973) and high-energy musical Five Guys Named Moe.