The theatre
At 656 seats the Garrick is small by West End standards, and it shows: even the upper circle is close enough to see faces. Walter Emden designed it and the Victorian interior is largely intact. Programming runs to drama revivals, musicals and cabaret, and there are two bars.
History
The playwright W. S. Gilbert — of Gilbert and Sullivan — financed and managed the theatre, which opened in 1889. Building it proved awkward: an underground river was found during excavation, and the stage sits below street level as a result. It is named after David Garrick, the actor who dominated the eighteenth-century London stage.
Good to know
Leicester Square and Charing Cross are both a minute or two away. The theatre sits at the southern end of Charing Cross Road, so it is easier to reach than the Shaftesbury Avenue houses.
