Few districts anywhere in the world are as bound to the stage as Covent Garden. Within a few minutes' walk of the Piazza sits one of the densest concentrations of theatres on earth, from grand opera houses seating over two thousand to intimate playhouses of a few hundred. For anyone planning a night out, a little knowledge of what sits where turns a good evening into a great one, and it explains why the area has been called the heart of theatreland for the better part of three centuries.
The grand houses
The Royal Opera House on Bow Street is the anchor of the district, home to The Royal Opera and The Royal Ballet and one of the leading lyric theatres in the world. The present building opened in 1858, the third on the site, and a major redevelopment in 1999 added the glass-roofed Paul Hamlyn Hall and opened the building to the street. A short walk away, the Theatre Royal Drury Lane holds the oldest theatre site in continuous use in London, with a Theatre Royal standing there since 1663 under a royal charter from Charles II. The London Coliseum on St Martin's Lane, designed by Frank Matcham in 1904, is the largest theatre in the West End and the home of English National Opera.
Nowhere else in London puts so many working stages within a five-minute walk of one another, from world-class opera to a play that has run without a break since 1974.
The musical stages
Covent Garden and its fringes hold many of the West End's long-running musical houses. The Lyceum has staged Disney's The Lion King since 1999, the Cambridge Theatre is the home of Matilda, and the Novello, Adelphi and Aldwych carry large-cast productions along the Strand and the Aldwych crescent. These are the theatres to look to for a familiar title and a big night out, and most run the same show for months or years rather than short seasons, so seats can be planned well ahead.
The intimate playhouses
Part of the character of the area is its smaller stages. The Donmar Warehouse in Seven Dials seats just over 250 and has an outsized reputation for new work and star casting. St Martin's Theatre has staged Agatha Christie's The Mousetrap since 1974, the longest-running play in history, while the Fortune, Duchess and Ambassadors are among the smallest and most characterful houses in London. These theatres put the audience close to the stage, and tickets to the best of them can be hard to find, so it is worth booking early when a run is announced.
A district shaped by the stage
The theatres did not arrive by accident. St Paul's Church on the west side of the Piazza has been associated with actors for so long that it is known as the Actors' Church, and the area's taverns, coffee houses and eventually its restaurants grew up to serve audiences and performers alike. That heritage still shapes the evening rhythm: the streets fill before curtain-up, quieten during performances, then fill again at the final curtain. It is one of the few places where the business of an entire quarter still turns on what time the shows begin and end.
Finding value and the best seats
A night at the theatre need not be expensive. Many houses release a small number of day seats at the box office on the morning of a performance, and matinees are usually cheaper than evening shows. Restricted-view seats can offer real savings if you do not mind a partly obscured stage, and the official theatre websites always undercut the resale sites. The half-price ticket booth in nearby Leicester Square is another route to same-day bargains. Whatever you book, buy directly from the theatre or an official agent to avoid inflated prices and invalid tickets.
Planning your night
Evening performances usually begin between 7pm and 7.30pm, with matinees on selected weekdays and Saturdays. The area is a short walk from Covent Garden, Leicester Square, Charing Cross and Holborn stations, and the restaurants and bars around the Piazza make it easy to build a whole evening around a show. Many restaurants offer a set pre-theatre menu timed to have you in your seat before the lights go down. Arrive early enough to enjoy the surroundings, and the theatre becomes only part of the pleasure of a night in Covent Garden.