Regent's Park Open Air Theatre (London, Great Britain)
Regent's Park Open Air Theatre
Established in 1932, the multi-award-winning Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre is one of the largest theatres in London (1,240 seats) and situated in the beautiful surroundings of a Royal Park. Passionate about producing first class theatre for and in our unique setting which inspires, challenges and entertains, we received the Highly Commended Award for London Theatre of the Year in The Stage Awards 2021.
The theatre is located in Queen Mary's Gardens, on the Inner Circle of Regent's Park and consequently is surrounded entirely by parkland. It was founded in 1932 by Sydney Carroll and Robert Atkins. The theatre is completely uncovered; the only sheltered area being underneath the tiered auditorium, which houses one of the longest bars of any theatre in London – stretching the entire length of the seating.
The theatre houses an extensive backstage area complete with green room for the company and technical team, a full wardrobe, makeup and wigs department, a workshop for the maintenance of stage sets and numerous offices for stage management, sound, LX and other crew.
The theatre is a registered charity, run by an Artistic Director Timothy Sheader and Executive Director William Village. The charity's Board of Trustees is chaired by Robert Davis DL, and includes Sir Peter Rogers, Stuart Griffiths OBE, Toni Racklin, Jim Reed, Samantha Spiro, Martin Wilkinson and William Village, alongside Dame Judi Dench, the theatre's Patron. The theatre has also been the inspiration for other open-air theatres around the world, such as the Maynardville Open-Air Theatre in Cape Town and Grosvenor Park Open Air Theatre, Chester.