Kneehigh Theatre Presents Noël Coward's BRIEF ENCOUNTER

Box Office

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BUY TICKETS

Buy tickets online or call (24hrs)

Phone and online tickets are subject to booking fee. CINEWORLD UNLIMITED cardholders calling SEE and quoting their UNLIMITED reference number are eligeable for a £5 per tickets discount for performances up to and including 2 March.
TICKETS AVAILABLE THROUGH ALL MAJOR TICKET AGENTS

IN PERSON

The Box Office at The Cinema Haymarket opens 2 hrs prior to the performance.

Outside these hours, you may also purchase tickets in person (with no booking fee) from The Phantom of the Opera Box Office at Her Majesty's Theatre, 25 metres yards from the Cinema Haymarket.

TICKET PRICES

Saturday 2 February - Sunday 2 March
All performances: £29.50 and £25.00

Tuesday 4 March onwards
All performances: £39.50 and £35.00

PERFORMANCE TIMES

Tuesday-Saturday 8pm,Wednesday & Saturday 3pm, Sunday 4pm (no matinees 2nd/6th/16th or 17th February)

ACCESS

Please contact SEE on (24hrs) for details.

VENUE

The Cinema Haymarket is 5 minutes walk from Piccadilly Circus or Trafalgar Square and is about 50 yards up from Her Majesty's Theatre where The Phantom of the Opera is playing.

Click here to view seating plan.

Nearest underground station: Piccadilly Circus (Piccadilly and Bakerloo lines)

Nearest rail station: Charing Cross.
National Rail Enquiries: 0845 7 48 49 50 (24 hours, local call)

Nearest car parking: NCP at Swiss Centre Car Park, Wardour Street.

Back To TopThe Cinema

Designed by Frank Verity and S. Beverly, the Carlton Theatre opened in 1927 on the site of an Old Coaching Station in London's Haymarket and was only the second theatre to built following the Great War. Originally conceived as a venue suitable for the presentation of both live shows and films, The Carlton Theatre was constructed following a remarkable collaboration between Paramount and The Carlton Theatre Company and opened in 1927 with the stage production "Lady Luck". The Theatre acted as a sister theatre to the Plaza in neighbouring Lower Regent Street (now Tesco Metro). Sharing the same designers, the theatres were very similar until extensive modernisation of The Plaza in the mid 80s.

The Carlton Theatre had major stage facilities available. The stage was 60ft wide and 45ft deep, there was a 75ft fly tower, a proscenium arch and fourteen dressing rooms - all of which enable the theatre to host five live productions in the 20s.

On March 26th, 1928, Paramount premiered its epic silent movie WINGS, starring Richard Allen, Clara Bow and Gary Copper which ran exclusively for four months followed by the return to live shows. With the advent of cinema sound (sound was installed in 1929), the emphasis was very much on film exhibition. Live performances were not to return until 1960 when Anthony Newley supported the film LET'S GET MARRIED.

At the height of the Second World War, the Carlton saw closure in October 1940, reopening a few weeks later on 25th November. There was a ban on evening performances so, like many other cinemas, performances were brought forward in the shortened day to protect revenues.

After the war, both The Carlton and The Plaza continued to showcase Paramount films but, in 1954, the Carlton was leased to Twentieth Century Fox to become their first West End operation. Following the installation of Cinemascope, with a "Miracle Mirror" screen and stereophonic sound, on 1st March 1954 Fox premiered BENEATH THE TWELVE MILE REEF. Just a few years later, Fox purchased the Carlton and it remained the main outlet for Fox releases, prospering in the West End until the early 70s when the venue fell into disrepair. In 1977, plans were drawn up to build another two screens but Fox decided to withdraw from film exhibition in the UK altogether. After a run of THE PRINCE AND THE PAUPER, the Carlton closed on 20th August 1977, the stage end of the building was sold to make way for an office block and the cinema was left empty.

Classic drew up plans for a three-screen cinema and the Carlton made a spectacular return as The Classic on 11th January 1979 with CAPRICORN ONE showing on all screens. Due consideration has been take of the history and layout of the building when the conversion plans were drawn up. Cinema One (now The Cinema Haymarket) retained much of the original ceiling and wall decoration ? the auditorium was formed by extending the original balcony forward and raising the screen. Cinemas two and three were built side by side in the original stalls area. The foyer remained as it was except for the relocation of the sales desk.

The cinema played host to many previews and Royal Premieres including ORDEAL BY INNOCENCE in the presence of Her Majesty the Queens and The Duke of Edinburgh.

On July 25th 1985, disaster struck when fire almost totally destroyed the foyer and, although the three auditoria suffered only smoke damage, it seemed as thought the entire ceiling and much of the ornate decoration of the Adam's style foyer would be lost forever. However, following hundreds of hours of restoration work, Cannon who had taken over from Classic as owners of The Carlton restored the foyer to its former glory, right down to the gilded plasterwork and the crystal chandeliers.

Back To TopThe Show

In 1946 the classic film Brief Encounter premiered at the cinema on the Haymarket.

Now the Kneehigh Theatre production of Noël Coward's Brief Encounter is back at the cinema on the Haymarket, this time Live on Stage!

Switching seamlessly between theatre and film using a combination of Coward's original stage play Still Life and the screenplay of Brief Encounter, Emma Rice, Kneehigh's Artistic Director, takes you back to a bygone age of romance and the silver screen from the moment the commissionaire opens the doors.

The lives and loves of three couples are played out in the famous station tearoom using the words and songs of Noël Coward to create a breathtaking, delightfully funny and tear-inducing show.

The cinema on the Haymarket, built in 1926 originally as the Carlton, will take you back to an age when cinemas had chandeliers, champagne, tea served on trays and a big organ.

ps They are the comfiest theatre seats in London!!!

Back To TopCast & Creative

Cast

Creative Team

Back To TopReviews

?A FIRST-CLASS RETURN TO ROMANCE?.
Daily Telegraph

?Wonderfully refreshing. A DELIGHT?
The Times

CRITICS? CHOICE
?Kneehigh Theatre Company is one of the most inventive and likeable around?
Time Out

?Kneehigh uses its joyous theatricality to bring a cinematic icon to life.?
Financial Times

?They give inventive, expressionistic treatment to this fascinating adaptation of Noel Coward?s classic Forties weepy.
A VALUABLE THEATRICAL ENCOUNTER.?
Evening Standard

?Kneehigh?s highly imaginative, mixed-media adaptation is all the more effective for artfully straddling stage and screen.?
The Independent

?GIVE YOURSELVES A TREAT AND GO and enjoy
this exquisite Brief Encounter.?
Daily Mail

?A classic tale of bygone romance?
The London Paper

?Brilliantly done and superbly acted.
Deserves all the popular success that is surely coming its way.?
WhatsonStage.com

?As exciting and innovative a production as you?ll find anywhere in London.?
A TRUE THEATRICAL EXPERIENCE?
The Stage

?PURE DAMP-EYED NOSTALGIA?
Daily Mail

?Tristan Sturrock and Naomi Frederick play out the doomed love affair beautifully?
The Independent

?The cast wonderfully act their socks off, playing an array of characters and instruments?
Daily Express

?A big-hearted delight which conjures the dreamy innocence of a lost era. Great fun and leaves you with a warm, sentimental glow?
Daily Mail

?Director Emma Rice and her design team make genuine theatrical whoopee with its romanticism and social setting.?
WhatsonStage.com

?AN IMAGINATIVE FEAST?
Daily Express

Back To TopEducation

Schools Tickets are reduced to just £10 at selected performances.

Call SEE (logo) EDUCATION Groups on for details.

Download our BRIEF ENCOUNTER Education Pack here.

Kneehigh Theatre Presents Noël Coward?s BRIEF ENCOUNTER