Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre was founded in 1932 by actor, director and producer duo Robert Atkins and Sydney Carroll. During its early years, Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre attracted some of the biggest names in the arts, including George Bernard Shaw, who wrote The Six of Calais specifically for the venue.
As World War II caused many of London’s theatres to shut their doors for much of the period, Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre was one of only two London theatres that remained open for the entire duration of the war. In 2000, a £2 million refurbishment project commenced overhauling the auditorium and front-of-house areas of the venue, including the building of the Robert Atkins Studio. A further £3.3 million redevelopment was completed in 2012, coinciding with the theatre’s 80th anniversary.
In 2005, Timothy Sheader was appointed artistic director and has since staged some of the theatre’s most commercially successful works, including blockbuster productions of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Jesus Christ Superstar and Evita, Stephen Sondheim’s Into the Woods, and stage adaptations of classic novels To Kill a Mockingbird and Lord of the Flies.
