The Criterion Theatre is a west end theatre located on Piccadilly Circus in the City of Westminster and is a Grade II listed building with an official capacity of 588.
In 1870, the caterers Spiers and Pond began development of the site of the White Bear, a seventeenth-century posting inn. The White Bear inn was located on sloping ground stretching between Jermyn Street and Piccadilly Circus, known as Regent Circus. A competition was held for the design of a concert hall complex, which was won by Thomas Verity. He was then commissioned to design a large restaurant, dining rooms, ballroom, and galleried concert hall in the basement. The frontage, which was the façade of the restaurant, and showed a French Renaissance influence using Portland stone.
After the building work had begun, it was decided to change the concert hall into a theatre. The composers' names, which line the tiled staircases, were retained and can still be seen to this day. The redesign placed the large Criterion Restaurant and dining rooms above the theatre, and a ballroom on the top floor.
Spiers and Pond applied for a licence to operate, but the authorities were unhappy because the theatre was underground and lit by gas, creating the risk of toxic fumes. The Metropolitan Board of Works had to vote twice before the necessary licence was issued, and fresh air had to pumped into the auditorium to prevent the audience from being asphyxiated. The building was completed in 1873 with the interior decoration being carried out by Simpson and Son.
The first production at the Criterion Theatre opened on 21 March 1874 under the management of Henry J Byron & EP Hingston. The programme consisted of An American Lady which was written and performed by Byron and a piece by W S Gilbert with music by Alfred Cellier entitled Topsyturveydom. Gilbert was back at the theatre in 1877 with his farce, On Bail, which was a revised version of his 1874 work Commited For Trial, and then againin 1881, with another farce,Foggerty's Fairy and in 1892, with a Comic Opera Haste To The Wedding which turned out to be a flop but it introduced the 18-year old George Grossmish Jr the composer's son, to the London stage who would go on to become a major star in Edwardian musical comedies.
Charles Wyndham became the manager and lessee in 1875 and under his management The Criterion Theatre became one of the leading light comedy houses in London. When Wyndham left in 1899 to open his own theatre, he remained the lessee bringing in various managements and their companies.
In March 1883 the theatre had to close for alterations demanded by the Metropolitan Board of Works. The pumping of fresh air into the ten year-old auditorium, some thirty feet below street level, was deemed unsatisfactory. Thomas Verity supervised all of the alterations The new direct access ventilation shaft meant cutting off a considerable portion of the adjoining Criterion Restaurant. New corridors were built, with several new exits. The auditorium was reconstructed and the stage re-equipped. The old dressing rooms were demolished and new ones built. Most importantly, electricity was installed. Further alterations and redecorations took place again in1902-03, when the theatre was closed for seven months.
Between the world wars productions included Musical Chairs with John Gielgud and in 1936, French Without Tears which ran for 1,039 performances and was the launchpad for the writing career of Terence Rattigan.
During World War II, the Criterion Theatre was requisitioned by the BBC - as an underground theatre it made an ideal studio safe from the London blitz - and light entertainment programmes were both recorded and broadcast live there. After the war, the Criterion repertoire included avant-garde works such as Waiting For Godot by Samuel Beckett.
In the 1970s the Criterion Theatre site was proposed for redevelopment, which caused protest as people feared the theatre would be lost forever. In February 1975 the GLC Planning Committee approved the development on the condition that the theatre continued in full contiuous and uninterupted use while the redevelopments took place. Throughout the 1970s and early 1980s the row increased and the Equity Save London's Theatre Committee organised several high profile demonstrations as they feared that the theatre would still be lost.
In the 1980s, the theatre building was purchased by Robert Bourne, a property tycoon and patron of the arts, and his wife, theatre impresario Sally Greene who then set up the Criterion Theatre Trust, a registered charity created to protect the Criterion's future. From April 1989 to October 1992 the theatre was closed whilst it underwent major renovations both in the back and front of the house. During that time, the block that exists today was built around it. After the refurbishment was finished, the Criterion retained a well-preserved Victorian auditorium with an intimate atmosphere.
The current production at the Criterion theatre is the comedy play 39 Steps. Theatre tickets to all performances at the Criterion can be purchased securely through this website.
