About the Criterion Theatre

The Criterion was never designed as a theatre. In 1870 a competition was held for a restaurant and concert-hall complex on Piccadilly Circus, and Thomas Verity won it against fourteen other entries. His brief was a large restaurant, dining rooms, a ballroom, and a galleried concert hall in the basement. The concert hall became the auditorium, and that is why it is underground.

What is the Criterion Theatre's history?

The first night was 21 March 1874, with H. J. Byron's An American Lady on the bill alongside Topseyturveydom, a piece by W. S. Gilbert. It is Grade II* listed, together with the old Criterion Restaurant above it, as one structure. Verity borrowed from Charles Garnier, then at work on the Paris Opera, and the listing says as much. Polychromed tiles and painted tile panels run the length of the foyer corridors and the stairs, set between plate mirrors.

The auditorium was remodelled in 1884, when the Metropolitan Board of Works tightened ventilation standards for a building with no windows and its audience below ground.

The BBC requisitioned it as a studio during the Second World War, on the grounds that a theatre four floors underground was a safe place to broadcast from.

When the rest of the building was rebuilt between 1989 and 1992, the auditorium was inspected, found to be sound and left out of the works. So the space you sit in is essentially the Victorian one, and you can sometimes hear a Tube train go over the top of it. The Criterion Theatre Trust took on the lease when the work finished, and reopened the theatre with Ennio Marchetto on 10 October 1992.

Who runs it?

The Criterion Theatre Trust, a registered charity, rather than one of the big West End groups. £1.50 from every ticket goes to its restoration fund, which pays for work on the listed building.

Notable past productions

It has been a comedy theatre for most of its modern life. The 39 Steps ran here for nine years from 2006, and The Comedy About a Bank Robbery followed it and ran until 2020. 2:22 A Ghost Story played here in 2022 and 2023, with a rotating cast of names in the lead.

  • The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (Abridged), which ran for years
  • Bleak Expectations
  • The Unfriend
  • The Picture of Dorian Gray
  • Unbelievable
  • Jamie Allan's Amaze
  • Two Strangers (Carry a Cake Across New York)

Other theatres of a similar size

Three minutes away on Coventry Street, and about twice the size at 1,135 seats, is the Prince of Wales Theatre.

FAQs

What shows have been at the Criterion Theatre?

Comedy, mostly, and for long stretches at a time. The 39 Steps alone ran here for nine years, and The Comedy About a Bank Robbery ran until 2020. 2:22 A Ghost Story, The Unfriend and Two Strangers (Carry a Cake Across New York) have played here since.

Why is the Criterion Theatre underground?

It was built as a concert hall in the basement of a restaurant complex, and the concert hall became the theatre. Only the entrance and foyer are at street level on Piccadilly Circus.