Cottesloe Theatre

Cottesloe Theatre, smallest of the three playhouses which make up the National Theatre, opening in 1977. Named after the first Chairman of the South Bank Theatre Board, which is responsible for the structure, it is used mainly for testing new techniques and presenting new or little-known plays. It is a flexible theatre in which the position and shape of the stage can be changed, the seating capacity—maximum 400—varying according to the arrangement. Plays which have had their first productions in the Cottesloe include Julian Mitchell's Half-Life (1977), with John Gielgud, Charles Wood's Has ‘Washington’ Legs? (1978), with Albert Finney, and David Storey's Early Days (1980), with Ralph Richardson. David Mamet's American Buffalo had its British première there (1978) and his Glengarry Glen Ross its world première (1983). In 1978 Lark Rise and Candleford, based on Flora Thompson's book, were presented as promenade productions (see THEATRE-IN-THE-ROUND). The same technique was adopted for Bill Bryden's productions of parts of the York Cycle of mystery plays, beginning with The Passion (1978, 1980). An O'Neill season in 1980 consisted of Hughie, The Iceman Cometh, and The Long Voyage Home. Notable later productions were Sam Shepard's True West (1981) and Fool for Love (1984); Pinter's Other Places (1982); Arthur Miller's The Crucible (1980), The American Clock (1986), and A View from the Bridge (1987); and Nicholas Wright's Mrs Klein (1988). Many Cottesloe productions have moved to the West End.