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Peacock Theatre

Portugal Street, London, WC2A 2HT GB

Now showing at the Peacock Theatre

20% off
The Snowman tickets The Snowman

The Snowman

Peacock Theatre

4.7/5 - based on 29 reviews - (Read reviews) 4.7 29 reviews Tickets from £20.00
Families (100%) i
You know the song – everyone does. You've seen the animated film. You have read the book. Maybe you've experienced all three? Now it's time to treat the family to the theatre production, a wonderful bitter-sweet, feel-good show that has been delighting audiences of every age since 1986, and is still going strong.
  • Booking until: Saturday, 30 December 2023
  • Running time: 1hr 50m (incl. 1 interval)
The Snowman tickets
15% off
Everybody's Talking About Jamie tickets Opens 9 Feb 2024 Opens 9 February 2024 Everybody's Talking About Jamie

Everybody's Talking About Jamie

Peacock Theatre

4.7/5 - based on 213 reviews - (Read reviews) 4.7 213 reviews Tickets from £28.00
Couples (86%) Theatregoers (90%) i
Everybody's Talking About Jamie is a brand new but already hugely popular 2017 musical with music by Dan Gillespie Sells and a book and lyrics by Tom MacRae. It was inspired by the remarkable BBC3 documentary, screened in 2011, called Jamie: Drag Queen at 16, and it's on at the glittering Peacock theatre.
  • Opens: Friday, 9 February 2024
    Booking until: Saturday, 23 March 2024
  • Running time: 2h 40m (incl. interval)
Everybody's Talking About Jamie tickets

Peacock Theatre Facilities

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

Peacock Theatre Access Tickets

Disabled theatregoers and their carers can get discount tickets. Please phone the Peacock Theatre access line on 020 7863 8000.

Peacock Theatre Location

Travel Information

Nearest Tube station
  • Holborn
  • Covent Garden
Nearest Rail Station
  • Charing Cross
Tube lines
  • Central
  • Piccadilly
Day buses
  • (Aldwych) 1, 6, 11, 13, 23, 59, 68, 87, 91, 139, 168, 171, 172, 188, 243, RV1, X68
Night buses
  • (Aldwych) 6, 23, 139, 188, 243, N1, N11, N13, N26, N47, N68, N87, N89, N91, N155, N171, N343, N551
Peacock Theatre history

From the outside

An unassuming modern concrete block from the outside, the Peacock Theatre is used for London School of Economics university lectures during the day. Inside you’ll find a well- equipped space with fan shaped seating and open stage with excellent views wherever you sit, used by the Sadler’s Wells dance company at night.

Peacock Theatre architecture and history

There has been a theatre on the site of the modern concrete Peacock theatre since was back in 1660, when a staging of Shakespeare’s Othello at the Vere Street Theatre, also oddly known as Gibbon’s Tennis Court, saw a female take the stage for the first time.

The site has had a chequered history, clocking up six different names over the years: London Opera House, National Theatre of England, Stoll Theatre, Stoll Picture Theatre, The Royalty Theatre and now, the Peacock.

The original theatre was damaged by fire, re-built and re-opening as the stunning 2,600 seat London Opera House, in competition with the nearby Royal Opera House. Perhaps not surprisingly, it closed in 1912 and stayed resolutely shut until re-opening yet again as the Stoll Picture Theatre, a cinema that screened silent movies accompanied by a full in-house orchestra and showing the occasional variety show. Which was its saving grace at the time, at least until 1957 when it closed again, only to be demolished and replaced by the current modern office block.

In partial compensation, the theatre’s owners built a small theatre in the basement of the new office building, which opened in 1960 and soon became known – mostly tongue in cheek – as the Royalty Theatre. At first it was home to a series of drag shows, then deteriorated again and spent time as a TV studio, hosting the hit TV show This is Your Life.

The prestigious London School of Economics eventually bought the building for use as a university lecture theatre, renaming it The Peacock Theatre, and it remained so until the world famous dance company, Sadler’s Wells, decided it’d make the perfect London home. Today it is still used by students during the day and comes to life as a premier dance venue at night.

One of the Peacock Theatre’s more dubious claims to fame is the fact that it once hosted what is widely thought of as the worst musical ever, called Barnardo.

Ghostly dolphins at the Peacock Theatre!

Sadly, during the 1930s a water tank was kept under the stage to house dolphins. People have reported hearing ghostly dolphin noises in the theatre to this day.

Past shows at the Peacock Theatre

Under the name The Royalty, the building hosted the massive hit Oh Calcutta and Bubbling Brown Sugar in the late 1970s. The Rat Pack played at the theatre in 2002, with Doldrum Bay premiering in 2003. Today’ it’s a dedicated dance venue for the Sadler’s Wells company.

Peacock Theatre access

The Peacock Theatre has an access door on Kingsway, two wheelchair spaces at the back of the Dress Circle with room for companions, and transfer seats in the aisles. There’s also an infra-red system and guide dogs are welcome in the auditorium.

Peacock Theatre tickets

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

Portugal Street, London, WC2A 2HT GB