Menu

Olivier Theatre (National Theatre)

South Bank, London, SE1 9PX GB

Olivier Theatre (National Theatre) Tickets

Cyber Sale
Ballet Shoes tickets Opens 1 Jan 2025 Opens 1 January 2025 Ballet Shoes

Ballet Shoes

Olivier Theatre (National Theatre)

Tickets from £35.00

In a crumbling house full of dinosaur bones and fossils, three adopted sisters – Pauline, Petrova and Posy – are learning who they are and what they want to be.

  • Opens: Wednesday, 1 January 2025
    Booking until: Saturday, 22 February 2025
Ballet Shoes tickets
Cyber Sale
Dear England tickets Opens 10 Mar 2025 Opens 10 March 2025 Dear England

Dear England

Olivier Theatre (National Theatre)

4.9 37 reviews 4.9 37 reviews Tickets from £24.00
Theatregoers (92%) i

The Olivier-Award winning 'Best New Play', Dear England returns to the London stage for a limited run at the National Theatre in March 2025. Influenced by the 2024 Euros tournament, this play will continue to evolve around the journey of the England's football team under manager Gareth Southgate.

  • Opens: Monday, 10 March 2025
    Booking until: Saturday, 24 May 2025
  • Running time: 2hr 50min. Incl. 1 Interval.
Dear England tickets
London Road tickets Opens 5 Jun 2025 Opens 5 June 2025 London Road

London Road

Olivier Theatre (National Theatre)

Tickets from £42.00

Autumn, 2006. The everyday life of the Suffolk town of Ipswich is shattered by the discovery of the bodies of five women.

The occupant of No. 79 London Road is arrested, charged and finally convicted of the murders. Caught in the headlines and the invasion of their quiet road, the community grapples with what it means to be at the epicentre of the tragedy.

  • Opens: Thursday, 5 June 2025
    Booking until: Saturday, 21 June 2025
London Road tickets
Nye tickets Opens 3 Jul 2025 Opens 3 July 2025 Nye

Nye

Olivier Theatre (National Theatre)

Tickets from £42.00
From campaigning at the coalfield to leading the battle to create the NHS, Aneurin ‘Nye’ Bevan is often referred to as the politician with greatest influence on our country without ever being Prime Minister. Confronted with death, Nye’s deepest memories lead him on a mind-bending journey back through his life; from childhood to mining underground, Parliament and fights with Churchill in an epic Welsh fantasia.
  • Opens: Thursday, 3 July 2025
    Booking until: Saturday, 16 August 2025
  • Running time: 2hr 40min. Incl. 1 Interval.
Nye tickets

The Land of the Living

Olivier Theatre (National Theatre)

Directed by Stephen Daldry, this astonishing new play by the ex-Young Vic Artistic Director David Lan weaves the story of displaced and stolen children following WWII, with Juliet Stevenson (The Doctor) in a starring role.

  • Opens: To be announced
    Booking until: To be announced
  • Starring: Juliet Stevenson
The Land of the Living tickets

Olivier Theatre (National Theatre) Facilities

  • Air conditioned
  • Bar
  • Disabled toilets
  • Infrared hearing loop
  • Restaurant
  • Toilets
  • Wheelchair/scooter access

Olivier Theatre (National Theatre) Location

Travel Information

Nearest Tube station
  • Temple
  • Waterloo
Nearest Rail Station
  • Waterloo
Tube lines
  • Circle
  • District
  • Bakerloo
  • Jubilee
  • Northern
  • Waterloo & City
Day buses
  • (Waterloo Road) 1, 4, 26, 59, 68, 76, 139, 168, 171, 172, 176, 188, 243, 341, 521, RV1, X68
Night buses
  • (Waterloo Road) 139, 176, 188, 243, 341, N1, N68, N76, N171, N343
Olivier Theatre (National Theatre) history

From the outside

The Olivier theatre is part of the massive 1970s National Theatre complex on the Thames’ South Bank, an impressive modern concrete behemoth. Inside there’s a fantastic fan-shaped auditorium modelled on the theatres of ancient Greece, with a huge semi-circle of a stage and suspended lighting. Expect excellent views and outstanding acoustics!

Olivier Theatre architecture and history

The Olivier, the National Theatre’s main auditorium, is based on the ancient Greek Epidaurus theatre, almost two and a half thousand years old but a triumph of practicality, superb uninterrupted views and really good acoustics. They knew a thing or two about theatre, those ancient Greeks!

Below the stage there’s another innovation, a machine that allows the stage to revolve plus the famous ‘sky hook’ which means stage sets and heavy equipment can be brought in and moved around amazingly quickly.

Designed by architects Sir Denys Lasdun and Peter Softley, Laurence Olivier gives the theatre its name, as artistic director of the National for a decade between 1963 and 1973. A National Theatre was first proposed for Britain way back in the 1840s, when the artistic community was keen to win greater creative freedom. The movement developed over the years, campaigning for a national London-based theatre for Shakespeare plays and pioneering actors, dedicated to setting a good example both at home and abroad.

Campaigning continued on and off for a hundred years until, finally, the British government came up with a site and provided financial support. After another long wait, thirty years later the National Theatre finally opened its doors in 1976.

The National’s newest innovation, the National Theatre Live, has revolutionised theatre by providing live screenings of plays and musicals to cinemas right across the UK and abroad, bringing London’s theatreland to millions of people across the globe via the big screen.

These days the scenic riverside forecourt is used for open-air performances throughout the summer, and the National’s terraces and foyers are also used now and again for one-off experimental performances.

As well as the Olivier Theatre the National complex includes a huge theatrical bookshop, several restaurants and bars plus exhibition spaces. There’s even live music daily in the foyer.

Past shows at the Olivier Theatre

The Olivier Theatre, one of three in the National building and the largest, opened to rave reviews in 1976 with the outstanding classic by Christopher Marlowe, Tamburlaine the Great. The Olivier Theatre also hosted the huge 1982 stage hit Guys and Dolls, which led to a successful UK tour and West End run. The Olivier has also shown St Matthew Passion and The Kitchen, a play by Arnold Wesker that originally premiered at the Royal Court in 1959. Emperor and Gallilean, The Cherry Orchard by Chekov, Frankenstein, Hamlet, Danton’s Death, Welcome to Thebes and many more.

Olivier Theatre access

Like all the National’s three theatres, the Olivier provides audio-described performances for visually impaired people as well as captioned performances and sign language interpreted performances.

Olivier Theatre tickets

We’re a trusted destination for a wide variety of seat types and prices, with excellent availability on the full range of Olivier Theatre tickets.

South Bank, London, SE1 9PX GB