Lyric theatre

29 Shaftesbury Avenue, London, W1D 7ES

Directions

Lyric theatre

29 Shaftesbury Avenue, London, W1D 7ES

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Public transport

Nearest Underground Station
Piccadilly Circus (250m)

Bus routes
14, 19, 22B, 38, 53, 88, 94, 159.

Parking

Parking
MasterPark at Poland Street and China Town.
NCP at Wardour Street, Newport Place, Denman Street, Lexington Street.

Venue

The Lyric Theatre is a West End theatre on Shaftesbury Avenue in the City of Westminster.

Designed by architect C. J. Phipps, it was built by producer Henry Leslie with profits from the Alfred Cellier and B. C. Stephenson hit, Dorothy, which he transferred from the Prince of Wales Theatre to open his new venue on 17 December 1888. It was the second theatre to be constructed on this stretch of Shaftesbury Avenue and is now the oldest on the street. The foyer and bars were refurbished in 1932-33, and the facade was restored in 1994. At present it seats 967 on four levels, although it originally was designed with a seating capacity of 1,306. The theatre still uses an electric pump to operate its iron curtain.

Early in the theatre's history, it staged mostly comic operas, and later it has been a home to light comedies, musicals and straight dramas.

The theatre retains many of its original features (including being built behind an original 1767 house front, at the rear to Great Windmill Street, the former house and museum of Sir William Hunter) and the theatre was Grade II listed by English Heritage in September 1960.

Accessibility

We hope the Lyric is as welcoming to you as possible. If you have any questions about any of our services, would like to join our mailing list or need help arranging your visit please contact Ticket Office on 020 8741 6850 or email access@lyric.co.uk

Booking Tickets
The Lyric offers one free companion ticket to those accompanying someone with access needs who is unable to exit the theatre unaided. People using the audio description or the captioning services can book their tickets for £12.50. These can be booked by calling us on 020 8741 6850. Our friendly Visitor Services staff will do their best to advise you on making the most of your visit and will try and accommodate any requests you may have.

Getting to the Lyric
All of Hammersmith's Underground lines (District, Piccadilly, Circle and Hammersmith and City) have good wheelchair access. We are about 200 yards from all tube stations and the Broadway bus station

The nearest disabled parking spaces to the Lyric are in the King's Mall shopping centre car park on Level 6. Before 8.30pm the theatre can accessed via a public walkway from level 5 of the car park. After this time the walkway is locked but you can return to the car park by leaving the theatre at the main entrance and turning left along Beadon Road. Access to the car park is on your left (this is the car park's exit road). The pay station and lifts are on the ground floor.

Getting around the Lyric
The Lyric is fully equipped with lifts to all floors and three disabled toilets. Our large restaurant area in the main foyer has a lowered counter at the main service point and wide access routes to ensure that you can move around easily. We have moveable tables and chairs to ensure you can eat, drink and relax in comfort and you can also pre-order your interval drinks to avoid queuing at busy times. Our fantastic Visitor Services team are there to ensure your safety and there will always be a trained first-aider onsite

Wheelchair Spaces
Our Main House has three wheelchair spaces in row R of the Stalls, approximately 10m from the auditorium entrance. These spaces are easily reached by taking the lift to Stalls level and using a dedicated entrance for wheelchair users.

The theatre also has a number of accessible seats at the end of rows on the left side of the auditorium for wheelchair users who prefer to transfer to a seat.

Our Studio has level access from the main foyer and is licensed for two wheelchairs usually positioned at the front of the seating area. The flexible nature of the seating means that they might not always be in the same place.

Audio Described Performances
We don’t want people with visual impairments to miss out on anything that happens on stage and our Audio Described performances are designed to improve the experience. These are available for certain performances as well as Touch Tours of the set before the show.

Guide dogs are welcome in the building and can either accompany their owners into the auditorium or can be looked after by one of our ushers.

Open Captioned Performances
We present Open Captioned performances for certain performances and both of our theatres have a Sennheiser infra-red audio enhancement system. You can collect a headset from our shop in the main foyer. If you'd like to use the Sennheiser system please tell our Visitor Services team when you book your tickets so they can advise you on the seats that have the best reception.