The Duke of York’s Theatre on St. Martin’s Lane is to be renamed The Tom Stoppard Theatre this summer. This name change will honour legendary playwright Tom Stoppard following his passing last November.
The change will take place over the next months. Internal signage will begin changing in the next few weeks, with external signage taking a bit more time to complete.
This theatre originally opened in 1892 under the name “Trafalgar Square Theatre.” Two years later it was renamed “Trafalgar Theatre,” and finally was relegated the name “Duke of York’s” in 1895, which it has maintained to this day. The theatre has three gorgeous levels and a capacity of 640 patrons.
Originally born in Czechoslovakia, Stoppard fled the country as a child amid threat of Nazi occupation. Following the war, he settled in the UK with his family. Stoppard always knew he had a passion for writing. At age 17 he left school to be a journalist for the Western Daily Press in Bristol. In the mid 1950s, he began writing short radio plays, and completed his first stage play in 1960. In his lifetime he’d had nearly 50 of his works produced on the stage, and many more works produced for radio, film, and television.
Stoppard writing is notable for themes of censorship, political freedom, and identity. Some of Stoppard’s most notable works for stage include Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead, Rock ‘n’ Roll, Leopoldstadt, and Arcadia.
Arcadia is currently playing at the Tom Stoppard Theatre. This play explores the relationship between chaos and order, and certainty and uncertainty. It is widely lauded as being one of his finest works. For tickets, please click here.
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