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Architect : W G R Sprague
Opened : 5 June 1913
Seats : 444 on 2 levels
Owned by : Ambassador Theatre Group
The Ambassadors, as it was originally known, and St Martin''s were conceived by their architect, W.G.R. Sprague, as companions, born at the same time in 1913, but World War I interrupted the construction of the latter for three years. The Ambassadors was built with the intention of being an intimate, smaller theatre and is situated opposite the renowned restaurant The Ivy, favourite haunt of the theatrical elite.
Recent productions have included Sweeney Todd prior to Broadway, Ying Tong - A Walk With The Goons, Someone Who''ll Watch Over Me and Telstar - The Joe Meek Story. The theatre is currently playing host to a revival of R.C. Sherriff''s Journey''s End until 28th January 2006.
English Touring Theatre''s Hamlet starring Ed Stoppard and Anita Dobson will play from February 2006.
The Ambassadors, as it was originally known, and St Martin''s were conceived by their architect, W G R Sprague, as companions, born at the same time in 1913, but World War I interrupted the construction of the latter for three years. The Ambassadors was built with the intention of being an intimate, smaller theatre and is situated opposite the renowned Ivy Restaurant, favourite haunt of the theatrical elite.
The auditorium is decorated in an elegant Louis XVI style and the horseshoe shaped single balcony is only a few steps up from ground level, while the stalls are built underground. Charles B Cochran recognised the Ambassadors lent itself perfectly to intimate revue and a period of sophisticated ''miniature revues'' were performed at the Ambassadors at the beginning of the First World War.
The world''s longest running and most famous play, The Mousetrap, started its run at this small theatre, with Richard Attenborough and his wife Sheila Sim, who were the first of generations of casts to perform in what has become a seemingly permanent tourist attraction. Since The Mousetrap, The Ambassadors has enjoyed numerous other successes, including the Royal Shakespeare''s hit production of Les Liaisons Dangereuses in the 80s.
Since ATG took over the New Ambassadors, it has become the only commercial West End theatre currently producing its own work and presenting limited seasons of work throughout the year from some of the country''s best and most exciting companies, writers and artists. Building on the achievements of the Royal Court Theatre at the Ambassadors, ATG has been responsible for developing and producing a wide range of work with the Royal Court Theatre, the Royal National Theatre, Out of Joint, and Shared Experience amongst many others.
Audiences at the New Ambassadors have experienced a variety of hugely successful productions including Drummers, Last Dance At Dum Dum, Mark Ravenhill''s Some Explicit Polariods; Shared Experience''s Mother Courage, Jane Eyre, A Doll''s House and Mill on the Floss; Speed-the- Plow by David Mamet, the award-winning Spoonface Steinberg, the highly acclaimed Stones in His Pockets, Krapp''s Last Tape starring John Hurt, Charlottes Jones'' In Flame, Conor McPherson''s Port Authority, The Vagina Monologues, Boston Marriage by David Mamet starring Zoe Wanamaker, A Day in the Death of Joe Egg starring Clive Owen, Victoria Hamilton and Prunella Scales, Marc Salem''s Mind Games, Marion and Geoff, Ed Byrne, One for the Road written by and starring Harold Pinter, Maria Friedman, Lee Hall''s new version of A Servant to Two Masters, the Donmar Warehouse production of Kenneth Lonergan''s Lobby Hero and The Woman Who Cooked Her Husband starring Alison Steadman and Daisy Donovan.
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