World-class performing arts in London

From classic drama to musical comedy, the National’s three stages (the Olivier, Lyttleton and Dorfman) epitomise the best of British theatre. Generations of renowned actors and directors have made their mark at this hulking, concrete riverside venue, which continues to surprise, provoke, and move audiences.

You can take a peek behind the scenes on one of the theatre’s Backstage Tours, which run most days of the week – contact the box office to find out more.

Thanks to artistic director Kevin Spacey, this 19th-century theatre has enjoying a glittering revival. One of London’s premier sites for performances by some of the world’s best-loved actors.

This is, without doubt, one of London’s most atmospherically set stages, encircled by Regent’s Park and its elegantly planted Queen Mary’s Garden. With the stage, bar and lawn picnic areas canopied by trees and latticed by climbing plants, fairy lights and lanterns, the magic begins even before the curtain goes up.

For the most part, there’s no curtain as such, although each show stages its production using the al fresco setting with varying degrees of ingenuity. Seasonal set pieces include crowd-pleasing Shakespeare plays such as A Midsummer Night’s Dream and Twelfth Night (the debut show in 1932), but the theatre has won a very respectable number of awards for productions that have transferred to the West End and Broadway.

Instantly recognisable as one of London’s greatest icons, the Royal Albert Hall is the capital’s premier venue – a beautiful, circular concert hall, founded in 1871, and based on the design of a Roman amphitheatre.

Outside, its red and gold frontage dominates the southern edge of Kensington Gardens, while inside – beneath the largest unsupported glass dome in the world – the main auditorium is almost overwhelming in its scale, with over 5,000 seats, many in galleried, gilt-edged ‘boxes’.

The Hall hosts everything from rock concerts to classical music and theatrical events such as Cirque du Soleil, and remains a pillar of the capital’s cultural life as the home of the Proms, a classical music festival that runs from July to September. Steeped in history, this is the place to perform in London, and everyone from Russian pianist Sergei Rachmaninoff to Adele has performed on its stage.

You can also take 60-minute daytime tours to go behind the scenes, and learn about the history and architecture of this monument to the arts.

London’s best-known platform for new playwrights. Effortlessly cool, intellectual, and influential, this is theatre at its most exciting.

Anyone who has ever found Shakespeare dry should make the pilgrimage to The Globe. This is Shakespeare as Shakespeare was meant to be experienced: bawdy, funny and heartbreaking.

In a project driven by actor and director Sam Wanamaker, this exact replica of the Elizabethan Globe theatre was built on the banks of the Thames, about 230m from the spot where the original stood in 1599. Rain or shine, the performance goes on, with theatregoers crammed into the open-air yard or huddled on benches in the sheltered, tiered seating. The atmosphere is electric.

More than 40 large-scale, world-class theatres make up the ‘West End’, all crammed into a small, buzzy area of central London, around Leicester Square, Soho, Covent Garden and Shaftesbury Avenue. Theatres here have a heritage stretching back five centuries – several are home to shows that break world records for length of run and ticket sales, and many are elaborate listed buildings with beautifully-preserved Georgian or Victorian features.

While the West End is most famous for its blockbuster musicals, its theatres stage a wide variety of genres, including serious drama, comedy and avant-garde performance pieces.

Home of both the Royal Opera and the Royal Ballet, this magnificent building combines an original 18th-century concert hall, a Victorian flower market, and an elegant modern glass wing.

Performances are equally spectacular, featuring lavish sets and spine-tingling appearances by some of the world’s leading singers and dancers.