Olivier Theatre

Olivier Theatre, largest of the three theatres housed in the National Theatre complex in London, and the second to be opened. Named after Laurence Olivier, the first Director of the National Theatre, it seats 1,165 in two stepped tiers and has an open stage 56 ft. wide and 72 ft. deep at the centre with a revolve 40 ft. in diameter. It is mainly used for plays which require larger casts or more spectacular effects than can be accommodated in the other theatres. The Olivier opened in 1976 with Marlowe's Tamburlaine the Great, Albert Finney playing the title-role. Other notable productions included Wycherley's The Country Wife (1977) with Finney, O'Casey's The Plough and the Stars (also 1977) with Cyril Cusack, Congreve's The Double Dealer (1978) with Dorothy Tutin, and Ibsen's The Wild Duck (1979). Among modern plays were Bond's The Woman (1978), Shaffer's Amadeus (1979) with Paul Scofield, and Howard Brenton's controversial The Romans in Britain (1980). Highlights of the next decade were Aeschylus' Oresteia (1981), a striking production with masks, the musical Guys and Dolls (1982), Sheridan's The Rivals (1983) with Michael Hordern and Geraldine McEwan, Hare and Brenton's Pravda (1985), and Antony and Cleopatra (1987), both with Anthony Hopkins.