Garrick Theatre, London, Guida per visitatori e cosa fare nei dintorni

The Garrick Theatre is a Victorian playhouse on Charing Cross Road in London's West End, opened in 1889 and still staging plays today. It is named after the 18th-century actor David Garrick, and it is one of the older working theatres in a district full of them.

The story behind it

The Garrick was built for W. S. Gilbert, the librettist best known for his comic operas with Arthur Sullivan. The architects were Walter Emden and C. J. Phipps, and Phipps designed many of Britain's theatres in this period. The name honours David Garrick, who dominated the London stage in the 1700s and changed how acting was done.

The theatre opened at the end of the 1880s, when the West End was growing fast and Charing Cross Road was a new street cut through older lanes. The building has survived more than a century of changing tastes and is protected as a listed building, so the playhouse you see today is essentially the Victorian one.

What to look for

• Look up at the name above the entrance on Charing Cross Road, which links the building to the great actor it commemorates.
• Notice how the theatre sits tightly among shops and other buildings, a reminder that West End playhouses were fitted into the street rather than set apart from it.
• Check the posters and billboards at the front to see what is currently on, since the programme changes from season to season.
• Glance along Charing Cross Road itself, long known for its bookshops, and at the narrow lanes that run off it towards Leicester Square and Covent Garden.

Tips for your visit

• Allow about 10 to 15 minutes to see the outside and take photographs, longer if you are also exploring the streets around it.
• To see the interior, book a performance. Check current opening hours and box office details before you go.
• Evening is the liveliest time, when audiences gather and the area around the theatre is busy. Daytime is quieter for photos.
• Leicester Square, Covent Garden, Trafalgar Square and Cecil Court are all within a short walk, so it combines easily with a wider stroll through the West End.

See it on a quest

The Murder Mystery: Death in the Shadows in West End, London passes the Garrick Theatre on foot as one stop of a longer route through the area. The app tells you about each place as you arrive and you solve a puzzle right in front of you. It is a paid quest, and one ticket covers the whole group.

The West End, London Detective Mystery: Infiltrate a Secret Society. also takes you past the theatre, with the detective theme running through the streets around it. You walk from place to place, hear the story of each stop and solve a puzzle on the spot. It is a paid quest, and one ticket covers the whole group.