Wyndham's Theatre

Wyndham's Theatre is a West End theatre, one of two opened by the actor/manager Charles Wyndham (the other is the Criterion Theatre). Located on Charing Cross Road in the City of Westminster, it was designed c.1898 by W.G.R. Sprague, the architect of six other London theatres between then and 1916. It was designed to seat 759 patrons on three levels although later refurbishment increased this to four. The theatre was Grade II* listed by English Heritage in September 1960.

History

Wyndham had always dreamed of building a theatre of his own and through the admiration of a patron and the financial confidence of friends, he was able to realise his dream when Wyndham's Theatre opened on 16 November 1899, in the presence of the Prince of Wales. The first play performed there was a revival of T. W. Robertson's David Garrick.

In 1910, Gerald du Maurier began an association with the theatre which lasted 15 years and to include the stage debut of the screen actress Tallulah Bankhead. Du Maurier's small daughter, Daphne, often watched her father's performance from the wings. Thirty years later she presented her own play, The Years Between, on the same stage.