Open Air Theatre

The Open Air Theatre has been a permanent feature in London’s Regent’s Park since 1932.

With one of the largest auditoria in London,  it is the oldest, professional, permanent outdoor theatre in Britain and its annual 16-week season is attended by over 130,000 each year.

1930s
April Robert Atkins and Sydney Carroll produce
Napoleon: The Hundred Days by Italian dictator
Benito Mussolini in the West End. It is not successful.
They present the ‘black and white’ Twelfth Night,
as an urgent replacement, which they subsequently
transfer for four performances to Regent’s Park with
permission from the Ministry of Works.
1933 The first full season includes a revival of Twelfth Night,
The Tempest and A Midsummer Night’s Dream with
Jessica Tandy as Titania on an 80 foot lawn stage.
1934 Jack Hawkins and Anna Neagle star as Orsino and
Olivia in As You Like It. Robert Helpmann dances
in an ‘al fresco ballet’ and George Bernard Shaw
writes The Six of Calais for the Park.
1936 Vivien Leigh plays Anne Boleyn in Henry VIII.
1939 Revival of the Dream which includes performances
from Michael Benthall, Deborah Kerr and
Kenneth Connor. Sydney Carroll retires and the
country is at war.
1940s
1940 Robert Atkins takes over full time management
producing matinee-only seasons due to the blackout.
The Windmill and The Park are the only theatres in
London to stay open throughout the war.
1942 Dulcie Gray and Michael Bentine join the
company for the Dream, Twelfth Night and
The Taming of the Shrew.
1941 Atkins appointed Director of Production at the
Memorial Theatre, Stratford-Upon-Avon, whilst
overseeing productions at the Park. Post-war
comedies dominate the programme but are
balanced with King John (1948), Faust (1949),
The Winter’s Tale (1950) and Cymbeline (1952).
1949 Brick dressing rooms are built behind the stage
replacing the tents.
1950s
1951 Leslie Crowther makes his first stage appearance as
Snug the Joiner in the Dream.
1953 Eileen Atkins appears as an attendant.
1956 The company are invited to perform Twelfth Night
and Hamlet at the Baalbek Festival, Lebanon.
1957 Leslie French, a star at the Open Air Theatre for
25 years, co-presents and finances the season.
1960s
1960 Robert Atkins’ final season. He plays Caliban in
The Tempest (Sara Kestelman is a nymph).
1962 David Conville (as Impressario) and David William (as
Artistic Director) sign a contract to produce a summer
season and The New Shakespeare Company established
as a non-profit distributing charitable company.
1963 Denis Quilley plays Benedick in Much Ado
About Nothing.
1964 The company embark on a 23-week tour taking
The Taming of the Shrew, The Tempest and
Richard II to eight different countries.
1966 A young Bill Kenwright plays Flute in the Dream.
Richard Digby Day replaces David William as
Artistic Director.
1968 Peter Egan plays Proteus in The Two Gentlemen of
Verona with Bernard Bresslaw as Launce. Bresslaw’s
long association with the theatre sees him playing
Bottom (many times), Dogberry (twice), Malvolio,
Petkoff and Ferrovius, until his untimely death in
1993 just before going on stage to play Grumio.
1970s
1970 Felicity Kendal plays Hermia in the Dream and
Hero in Much Ado About Nothing.
1971 Ian Talbot begins his association with the theatre as
Bottom. Anthony Andrews plays Mustardseed.
1972 Michael Denison plays Prospero in The Tempest
with Wayne Sleep as Ariel.
1974 Mervyn Willis appointed as Artistic Director.
A lunchtime programme includes Albee’s The Zoo
Story with Robert Stephens and Michael Gambon.
A new auditorium is built at the cost of £150,000
followed by a workshop, a new box office, kitchen
and picnic lawn.
1975 An unknown duo, Jeremy Irons and Zoë
Wanamaker play in The Taming of the Shrew,
though delays on the building project mean that
the production is staged at the Roundhouse.
1976 Casts are moved into port-a-cabins as the old
dressing rooms are declared unsafe. Robert Stephens
and Edward Fox appear in Othello, which also
tours Israel. Sweet Mister Shakespeare closes the
season including performances from Judi Dench,
Penelope Keith and Dame Flora Robson.
1977 Celia Imrie plays Mistress Quickly in
Love’s Labour’s Lost.
1978 Rula Lenska plays Titania in the Dream.
1980s
1981 New dressing rooms are built, only to be burnt
down at the end of 1982. They are rebuilt in time
for the 1983 season. Kate O’Mara appears as
Beatrice in Much Ado About Nothing.
1982 HM The Queen and The Duke of Edinburgh
attend an evening to celebrate the theatre’s Golden
Jubilee. Two oak trees are planted and The Queen
is presented with a bouquet of flowers mentioned in
Shakespeare plays.
1983 Lesley Garrett appears in a double bill of English
18th Century operas, Thomas and Sally and Rosina.
Louise Jameson and ice skater John Curry, appear
as Rosalind and Orlando in As You Like It alongside
Douglas Hodge and Abigail McKern who won
the SWET award for Best Supporting Actress.
Bashville, the Park’s first musical, is written by
David William and Benny Green, with music by
Denis King.
1984 The Merry Wives of Windsor stars Ronnie Fraser,
Kate O’Mara, Phillipa Gail and Dora Bryan.
Richard E Grant also appears in this production, as
well as the Dream, alongside Natasha Richardson.
1985 Ralph Fiennes makes his professional debut as Curio
in Twelfth Night. In the Autumn, the Dream is
presented by the British Council on tour to Dubai,
Abu Dhabi, Qatar, Kuwait, Bahrain, Amman,
Damascus, and Baghdad.
1986 Ralph Fiennes returns to play Romeo to Sarah
Woodward’s Juliet, directed by Declan Donellan.
1987 David Conville becomes Chairman and Ian Talbot
is appointed Artistic and Managing Director.
Bartholomew Fair stars Peter Bayliss and Peggy Mount,
with boar pigs borrowed from London Zoo.
Caroline Smith’s production of the Dream is nominated
for a Laurence Olivier Award as Comedy of the Year.
1988 David Gilmore directs The Winter’s Tale. Richard
Rodgers and Lorenz Hart’s Babes in Arms is the first of
twenty musicals produced in the Park by Ian Talbot.
1990s
1990 Julius Caesar is followed by The Fantasticks staring
Roy Hudd and Anthony O’Donnell.
1991 Judi Dench directs The Boys from Syracuse and wins
the Laurence Olivier Award for Best Musical Revival
and Best Supporting Actress (for Jenny Galloway).
Macbeth makes its Park’s debut with Peter Woodward
in the title role and Nichola McAuliffe as Lady
Macbeth.
1992 Simon Green, Joanna Riding, Bernard Cribbins and
a young Samantha Spiro appear in Lady Be Good.
1993 Judi Dench and Toby Robertson direct Romeo and
Juliet and The Taming of the Shrew, which then tour
Egypt, Cyprus and the Arab Emirates, co-presented
with the British Council.
1994 Tim Piggott-Smith directs Damian Lewis in Hamlet.
Cameron Mackintosh finances
The Card starring Peter Duncan,
Jessica Martin, Hayley Mills and
Jenna Russell which is nominated
for two Laurence Olivier Awards.
1995 Brian Cox directs Richard III
and appears in The Music Man
(alongside Liz Robertson).
Directed by John Doyle, Brian
Protheroe and Harriet Thorpe
play in the Dream with
Toyah Willcox as Puck.
1997 All’s Well That Ends Well makes its first appearance
at the Park with Nigel Planer as Parolles.
Kiss Me Kate is nominated for three Laurence
Olivier Awards.
1999 The final season of the Century includes
Twelfth Night directed by Rachel Kavanaugh,
and the Sondheim musical, A Funny Thing
Happened on the Way to the Forum.
2000s
2000 At the cost of £2million major building work is
completed to refurbish the auditorium and public
areas of the theatre, including the building of the
Robert Atkins Studio. Nigel Harman plays a fairy
in the Dream and Joseph Papp’s new version of
The Pirates of Penzance plays the 2000/2001
seasons prior to a UK tour with Gary Wilmot
and Su Pollard.
2002 Dominic Hill directs Romeo and Juliet;
Rachel Kavanaugh directs As You Like It.
The musical is Oh What A Lovely War and a
star-studded 70th Anniversary concert is hosted
by Dame Judi Dench and Ian Talbot.
2003 High Society breaks all box office records and
is nominated for a Laurence Olivier Award for
Best Revival of a Musical with Tracie Bennett
nominated for Best Supporting Role.
Mark Goucher and Adam Kenwright tour the
production, bringing it into the Shaftesbury Theatre
for Christmas 2005.
2004 Henry IV Part I is directed by Alan Stachan and
Ian Talbot’s Dream stars Russ Abbot as Bottom.
The children’s play is an in-house production of
The Wind in the Willows adapted by David Gooderson
and David Conville with music by Carl Davis.
2005 Timothy Sheader makes his Park debut directing
Twelfth Night with Martin Jarvis and Desmond
Barrit as Malvolio and Toby, and Steven Day as
Feste. Gary Wilmot, Simon Thomas and
Scarlett Strallen appear in the Laurence Olivier
Award nominated HMS Pinafore.
2006 General Manager William Village is appointed as
Executive Director and, as David Conville becomes
Honorary President thereby continuing his 45-year
association with the Park, Anthony Durrant is
appointed Chairman. Ian Talbot revives his 2003
Dream which includes Sheridan Smith amongst the
cast. Steven Pacey, Michael Rouse and Summer Strallen
appear in The Boyfriend, and David Wood adapts
Babe as the children’s production.
2007 Ian Talbot’s final year sees productions including
Macbeth with Antony Byrne in the title role,
Fantastic Mr Fox and revivals of The Boy Friend
and Lady Be Good. Timothy Sheader is appointed
as Artistic Director joining William Village as joint
Chief Executives.
2008 Timothy Sheader directs Romeo and Juliet and Gigi,
which stars Topol and Millicent Martin. Janie Dee
and Clive Rowe appear in Edward Dick’s production
of Much Ado About Nothing. A Midsummer Night’s
Dream is re-imagined for everyone aged six and over.
2009 Robert Davis DL becomes Chairman. Irina Brown’s
production of The Importance of Being Earnest
starring Susan Wooldridge as Lady Bracknell breaks
all attendance records at the theatre. Liam Steel
re-imagines The Tempest for family audiences and
Hello, Dolly!, directed by Timothy Sheader, wins
the Evening Standard Award for Best Musical and is
nominated for four Laurence Olivier Awards, winning
Best Musical Revival, Best Theatre Choreography
(Stephen Mear) and Best Actress in a Musical
(Samantha Spiro). The show becomes the highest
grossing production in the theatre’s history.

The Open Air Theatre is leased by The Royal Parks (on behalf of the Department of Culture, Media and Sport) to Regent's Park Theatre Ltd which is a registered charity and a not-for-profit company. It receives no public subsidy and the work is funded entirely by the operating activities.