Ticket prices in the West End are at an all-time high — but don’t let that put you off seeing a show. We’ve found plenty of cutting-edge new plays which are being trialled outside the capital. From a theatre beside a loch to exciting productions in half-timbered market towns, these are the greatest venues across the country — with ticket prices a snip of what you’d pay in the West End
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1. The Georgian Theatre Royal, Richmond, North Yorkshire
Built in 1788, with several nips and tucks since, this pastel-painted wonder is Britain’s best-preserved Georgian playhouse (georgiantheatreroyal.co.uk). Just a handful of pew-style benches and painted boxes trim a small stage and you can book a tour to see 18th-century posters and playbills as well as Britain’s oldest known piece of scenery (£8). It also knows how to put on a show: comedians, small touring companies, chamber orchestras and an annual pantomime all grace its stage. Highlights this year include the Yorkshire farming comedy These Things Do Happen and Oscar Wilde’s The Duchess of Padua, performed as an opera. Leave some time to explore Richmond market (held every weekend) and stay in one of the converted dairy rooms at Middleton Lodge, which come with glorious outdoor tin bath tubs.
Details B&B doubles from £179 (middletonlodge.co.uk)
2. Theatre by the Lake, Keswick, Cumbria
A modest, stone-built venue with picnic benches overlooking Derwentwater, Keswick’s destination theatre blends in beautifully with its Lake District setting (theatrebythelake.com). You can expect a bit of everything at the 389-seater: period comedy-dramas, soul singers, author talks and literary adaptations. Jane Austen’s Northanger Abbey gets the stage treatment this spring and will run between April 27 and May 17. Look out too for the bust of Dame Judi Dench in the bar — she opened the theatre back in 1999 and remains its president. When in Keswick you’ll want to make the most of the hikes and boat rides on your doorstep, so check in for the weekend at Lyzzick Hall Hotel, where rooms look out towards imposing Skiddaw.
Details B&B doubles from £189 (lyzzickhall.co.uk)
3. The Maltings Theatre, St Albans, Hertfordshire
A favourite base for new writing and touring companies, the Maltings is a spacious, modern black-box theatre, with the novelty of an adjoining Roman amphitheatre that hosts outdoor shows in summer (ovo.org.uk). A spin on The Merry Wives of Windsor, focused on a bunch of 1980s rockers, kicks off on May 31, while past shows have included revivals of Christopher Hampton’s Les Liaisons Dangereuses, Caryl Churchill’s Vinegar Tom and Stewart Pringle’s 2017 fringe favourite Trestle. Come at the weekend to match a show with a rummage at St Albans antique and vintage market (held on Sundays) and a stay at Sopwell House, a Georgian country mansion with a standout spa.
Details B&B doubles from £239 (sopwellhouse.co.uk)
4. The Watermill Theatre, Newbury, Berkshire
Tucked away in a Berkshire town better known for its horseracing track, this 200-capacity venue has a strong reputation for recruiting top artistic directors and putting on some of the country’s best works (watermill.org.uk). Looking more like a quaint redbrick cottage than a cutting-edge playhouse, the Watermill showcases new, British-written musicals, family-friendly escapades and theatrical workshops hosted by its respected creatives — bag tickets for the rock musical romp Sherlock Holmes and the Poison Wood, which runs until March 16. There’s more drama a 15-minute drive away at Highclere Castle, where Downton Abbey is filmed. Stay at the Retreat at Elcot Park, the Regency pile with swish spa that won the top spot in our Best Places to Stay 2023 awards.
Details B&B doubles from £216 (retreatelcotpark.com)
5. Pitlochry Festival Theatre, Pitlochry, Perth and Kinross
For engineering fans, the town of Pitlochry is better known for its hydroelectric dam with its innovative “fish ladder”; for stagey types, it’s all about its impressive lochside theatre (pitlochryfestivaltheatre.com). With three performance spaces including a lovely outdoor amphitheatre, it attracts about 100,000 visitors annually with its summer repertory season and also hosts a literary festival and musical revivals throughout the year. Classics including Footloose and Beautiful (the Carole King musical) both take to the stage in 2024, along with Willy Russell’s Shirley Valentine and an adaptation of The Secret Garden. Best of all, lovely walks to peaks and forest waterfalls (not to mention whisky distilleries) are on your doorstep. Stay at the grand, turreted Fonab Castle hotel for heart-soaring views just footsteps along the edge of Loch Faskally from the theatre.
Details B&B doubles from £227 (fonabcastlehotel.com)
6. The Barn Theatre, Cirencester, Gloucestershire
This market town may be known as the capital of the Cotswolds, but it’s also home to an agenda-setting regional theatre (barntheatre.org.uk). Launched in 2018, the Barn is a relative newcomer to Britain’s theatre scene — but it was quickly embraced by the industry, winning The Stage Awards’ Best Fringe Theatre gong in 2019. In a 19th-century private residence and stables, it’s hosted lesser-known Sondheim musicals, adaptations of Michael Morpurgo books and classic revivals including The Importance of Being Earnest; meanwhile, This year Sherlock Holmes and the Whitechapel Fiend runs until March 9. The Swan in neighbouring Bibury is a cosy coaching inn that’s a ten-minute walk from the weavers’ cottages of Arlington Row ‒ one of the most photographed spots in the Cotswolds.
Details Half-board doubles from £155 (cotswold-inns-hotels.co.uk)
7. Shakespeare North, Prescot, Merseyside
Prescot’s got an unexpected connection to Shakespeare: it’s thought to be the historic site of the only freestanding Elizabethan playhouse outside London between 1595 and 1609, when the bard was in his prime. A much newer addition to the Merseyside town is Shakespeare North Playhouse, which opened in July 2022 (shakespearenorthplayhouse.co.uk). This summer you can see a contemporary twist on one of the Bard’s finest plays, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, between July 16 and July 20. “Pay what you decide” nights offer tickets from as little as £5, and the venue doubles as a community space, with sociable Chatty Café days and wine-tasting evenings. Prescot is a 20-minute drive from Liverpool city centre, so you’ll want to check into the Hope Street Hotel to be sandwiched between the city’s two cathedrals and within walking distance of its art galleries and atmospheric pubs.
Details Room-only doubles from £89 (hopestreethotel.co.uk)
What’s your favourite small theatre? Let us know in the comments below
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