The Gielgud Theatre, named after British actor John Gielgud, is a West End theatre in London's Shaftesbury Avenue at the corner of Rupert Street.

Designed by W. G. R. Sprague with the Queen's as its companion theatre, it was opened in 1906 as the Hicks Theatre in honour of actor, manager and playwright Seymour Hicks . In 1909 it was renamed Globe Theatre.

In 1995, prior to the opening of Sam Wanamaker's new Globe Theatre on the South Bank in 1997, it was renamed Gielgud Theatre.

Memorable productions

• 1907: Brewster's Millions by Winchell Smith & Byron Ongley
• 1908: A Waltz Dream , an operetta by Oscar Straus
• 1916: Peg O' My Heart by John Hartley Manners
• 1925: Fallen Angels by Noël Coward, starring Tallulah Bankhead
• 1931: The Improper Duchess by James B. Fagan , starring Yvonne Arnaud
• 1939: The Importance of Being Earnest by Oscar Wilde, with John Gielgud starring as well as directing
• 1942: The Petrified Forest by Robert Sherwood
• 1949: The Lady's Not For Burning by Christopher Fry, with Richard Burton in a supporting role
• 1959: The Complaisant Lover by Graham Greene, starring Ralph Richardson
• 1960: A Man For All Seasons by Robert Bolt, starring Paul Scofield
• 1966: There's a Girl In My Soup by Terence Frisby
• 1976: a season of Barry Humphries as Dame Edna Everage
• 1982: Design for Living by Noël Coward, starring Vanessa Redgrave
• 1990: Man of the Moment by Alan Ayckbourn
• 1995: Design for Living, starring Rachel Weisz

Further reading

• Ronald Bergan: The Great Theatres of London. An Illustrated Companion (Prion, 1990) (ISBN 1853750573).
• Patricia Dee Berry: Theatrical London (Britain in Old Photographs series) (Alan Sutton, 1995) (ISBN 0750909420).