Theatres - Trafalgar Studios

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Educating Rita ( Trafalgar Studios ) - Play

Much to the dismay of her husband Denny, Rita, a young, brash hairdresser, has recently discovered a passion for English literature and enrols with the Open University. Her fresh, unschooled reaction to the classics challenges the attitudes of the University and her lecturer Frank who begins to question his own understanding of his work and himself. Commissioned by the RSC, Willy Russell's Educating Rita was first performed at The Warehouse, London, in June 1980 and later transferred to the Piccadilly Theatre. The production starred Julie Walters and Mark Kingston and won the Society of West End Theatres award for Best Comedy. Julie Walters went on to play Rita in the BAFTA award winning film version with Michael Caine as Frank. Both received BAFTA and Golden Globe Awards and Oscar nominations for their performances. This production stars Tim Pigott-Smith and Laura Dos Santos.

Shirley Valentine ( Trafalgar Studios ) - Musical

Meet Shirley: a middle-aged Liverpudlian housewife who talks to the wall whilst preparing her husband's egg and chips. She's in a rut. What has happened to her life? When her best friend Jane pays for a holiday for two to Greece, she packs her bags, heads for the sun and starts to see the world and herself rather differently. Commissioned by the Everyman Theatre in Liverpool, Willy Russell's Shirley Valentine premiered in 1986 directed by Glen Walford. In 1988, under the direction of Simon Callow, it opened in the West End, wining the Olivier Award for Best Comedy, and starring Pauline Collins, who went on to play Shirley on Broadway (winning a Tony Award) and in the 1988 film (winning a BAFTA Award and Oscar nomination).Starring Meera Syal in 'London's Best Comic Performance' (Time Out).

Trafalgar Studios

14 Whitehall
London SW1A 2DY

Nearest Tube: Charing Cross or Embankment
Nearest Bus Stop: 3, 9, 11, 12, 24, 29, 53, 77A, 88, 153, 159
Nearest Train Station: Charing Cross
Nearest Parking: Charing Cross

Designed by Edward Stone. This Theatre opened on 29th September 1930 with "The Way to treat a Woman"by Walter Hackett.

Formerly the Whitehall Theatre, Trafalgar Studios is two new theatre studios under one roof in the heart of the London's West End. Opening with the RSC's production of Othello at the end of May, the larger space has approximately 380 seats. Othello was followed by the Watermill Theatre's acclaimed production of Sweeney Todd.

Architects Tim Foster and John Muir have created two new intimate and dynamic theatre spaces that will inject a new energy and excitement into the venue and into the West End allowing The Ambassador Theatre Group to host a much wider range of entertainment than has previously been possible in commercial theatre.

The Whitehall theatre opened in 1930 with a transfer of The Way to Treat a Woman by Walter Hackett (also the theatre's licensee). He presented several more highly successful plays of his own until leaving in 1934, and the theatre continued to build its reputation for popular modern comedies throughout the 1930s. During the war this tried and tested formula was rejected in favour of revue shows, which were all the rage elsewhere in London's West End. In 1942, The Whitehall Follies was launched, featuring a non-stop performance by Phyllis Dixey - audiences flocked in, mostly due to the fact that the celebrated Miss Dixey was famous for being the first stripper in the West End!