Enjoy a Wide Variety of Enjoyable London Theatre Shows

Added: 02/15/2006

The smell of greasepaint, the roar of the crowd. Whether you are a savvy theatre critic or a casual visitor, you'll be amazed at the London theatre -- the most accessible, the most varied, the most outstanding, and what's more, the most inexhaustible resource of stage-entertainment in the world. Recent years have witnessed more than 600 individual productions, reviewed by major theatre critics. Whatever you theatre preferences may be, London theatre won't leave you disappointed.

While in London, don't miss the opportunity to choose from an extensive list of theatre shows, which will fit you tastes and interests, so that the time you spend in the theatre will contribute to the most memorable travel experiences. Generally London theatres fall into three broad categories: West End, Off-West End and National Repertory Companies, analogues to Broadway, Off-Broadway and Regional Theatre of the United States.
The West End encompasses the two square mile section of London in the proximity to Piccadilly, Covent Garden and Leicester Square where nearly forty excellent theatres are concentrated, the majority of them dating from the Edwardian and Victorian areas. They are known as commercial theatres, in which the shows are presented in the expectation of making a profit.

Two jewels in the British theatre's crown are the Royal Shakespeare Company, staging at various theatres of London and in Stratford-upon-Avon, and the Royal National Theatre, located on the South Bank at the end of Waterloo Bridge. Both of them maintain a reputation of large and influential companies of directors, actors and technicians, producing a significant number of highest quality theatre shows throughout the year.

From the early days of its foundation, the Royal National Theatre has been adhering to its goal of presenting a diverse repertory of classic and modern plays from both the British tradition and world theatre. The repertory of the Royal Shakespeare Company embraces plays by Shakespeare's contemporaries, as well as classic works of British drama and some new plays.

Rating with the best selling theatre shows, Billy Elliot is a play, based on Billy Eliot's film and staged at Victoria Palace Theatre of London. The opening of a Broadway production is scheduled for 2007. The musical itself is produced by Tim Bevan and Eric Fellner, together with theatre impresario Sally Greene. With its numerous tragic elements, songs and dance, Billy Elliot is an ideal mix of charming ingredients to keep the audience delighted and fascinated.

Performed first in London in July 1960, A Man for All Seasons is has been ever since maintaining a reputation of one of the leading London theatre shows. The subsequent years witnessed the play by Robert Bolt being transformed into a television movie and a feature film. The plot of the play is based on the story of the XVI century Chancellor of England Thomas More, who refuses to endorse the wish of Henry VIII of England to divorce his wife Catherine of Aragon.

In the play, Thomas Moore is portrayed as a man of principle, loved and respected by common people and his family and envied by rivals, like Thomas Cromwell. The leading role in the West End was played by Paul Scolfield, reprised then on Broadway, winning a Tony Award. In the first of film versions in 1966 Thomas Cromwell played Moore again, awarded with the Oscar in the process. The 1988 play version stared Charlton Heston as Thomas Moore. Recently the play has been staged at the Theatre Royal of London's West End, produced by Bill Kenwright and starring Martin Shaw.

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