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Duke of York's Theatre, London
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The Royal Court Theatre present the West End transfer of Nick Payne's new award-winning play Constellations starring Sally Hawkins and Rafe Spall up to 5 January 2013. This will then be followed by the West End transfer from the Hampstead Theatre of a major revival of David Hare's play The Judas Kiss about Oscar Wilde and featuring Rupert Everett as 'Oscar' with Freddie Fox as 'Lord Alfred 'Bosie' Douglas' from 9 January to 6 April 2013 and then a revival of Peter Nichols' play Passion Play starring Zoë Wanamaker from 1 May to 3 August 2013
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| Architect: Walter Emden Opened: 10 September 1892 Listed: Grade II | Seats: 640 on 3 levels (current) Archive: Previous shows at this theatre |
The theatre was originally called The Trafalgar Square Theatre - being just 100 yards from Trafalgar Square - before shortening it to just The Trafalgar Theatre in 1894 before changing it completely to The Duke of Yorks Theatre in 1895. During the late 1990s the name was temporarily changed to The Royal Court Theatre Downstairs before reverting back The Duke of York's Theatre. Originally seating 900 on four levels, the top level (the balcony) has now been closed with the seating capacity reduced to the current 640.
Although the theatre under went refurbishment in 1979 when structural alterations were made to remove some of the columns supporting the circle, a number of seats still suffer from a restricted view of the stage.
Productions staged here include a successful run of Richard Harris's play Stepping Out which run for just under 3 years while Willy Russell's Shirley Valentine enjoyed a run of over 2 years here. Between October 1995 and March 1996 the Royal Court presented Ron Hutchinson's 'Rat in the Skull, Terry Johnson's Hysteria and David Storey's The Changing Room as part of a 'Royal Court Classics' season. This was then followed by a revival of the Andrew Lloyd Webber/Alan Ayckbourn musical, By Jeeves, a musical which had originally been seen in 1975 but which had now been virtually rewritten - it opened on 2 July 1996 and closed on 28 September 1996 when it transferred to the Lyric Theatre. After this the Theatre was taken over by The Royal Court Theatre for the next four years - and was renamed The Royal Court Theatre Downstairs - while their own home in Sloane Square underwent major reconstruction. In August 2000 the comedy hit Stones in his Pockets transferred here from the New Ambassadors Theatre.
