History & Past Productions
The Donmar is the home of legendary performance, experienced up close. In our converted Covent Garden warehouse, we bring together audiences – never more than four rows away from an actor – to experience world class artists and rising stars create thrilling, unmissable theatre. From a nineteenth century hop warehouse to today’s award-winning theatre, our history is as exciting and varied as the work we present on our stage.
Here are some highlights...
BEFORE IT WAS A THEATRE
1690s Thomas Neal MP establishes the Seven Dials area, hoping it will become as popular with well-off residents as the nearby Piazza. Instead Seven Dials becomes one of the most notorious slums in London.
1870s Seven Dials is taken over by workshops and breweries. What will become the Donmar is a vat room and hop warehouse for the local brewery in Covent Garden.
1920s The warehouse is used as a silent film studio, and then the Covent Garden Market banana ripening-depot.
1960s Donald Albery forms Donmar Productions (amalgamating his first name and his wife’s second name – Margaret) and purchases what will become the Donmar Warehouse. During this time, the Donmar plays host to the Beatles, the Rolling Stones and the London Festival Ballet.
1970s and 1980s The Donmar becomes the home for the Royal Shakespeare Company’s studio productions before it is taken under the management of Ian Albery and Nica Burns. It becomes the West End home for Britain’s most innovative touring companies, including Cheek by Jowl, plus stand-up comedy and cabaret.
THE DONMAR AS WE KNOW IT
1990s In 1989, Roger Wingate’s ACT purchases the theatre and begins a major renovation. In 1990 Sam Mendes is invited to take up residency as Artistic Director and opens the refurbished theatre in 1992 with the UK premiere of Sondheim’s Assassins. Other productions under his direction included Cabaret, Company, Uncle Vanya, Twelfth Night and The Blue Room with Nicole Kidman. Other Directors working at the Donmar around this time include Matthew Warchus, Katie Mitchell, David Leveaux and Michael Grandage. ATG takes over from Roger Wingate and ACT as the landlord of the Donmar in 1999. 2000s Michael Grandage succeeds Sam Mendes as Artistic Director in 2002. Under his tenure, the Donmar begins a national touring programme to reach as many people as possible across the UK. Productions under Grandage’s tenure include Frost/ Nixon, Piaf, and a production of King Lear that marks the first time NT Live has broadcast from a venue other than the National Theatre. Other productions include Mary Stuart with Harriet Walter and Janet McTeer, Proof with Gwyneth Paltrow, Ian Mckellen in The Cut and Eddie Redmayne and Alfred Molina in Red.
2010s In 2011, the Donmar purchases its Dryden Street home, including a rehearsal space, offices and education studio. In 2012 Josie Rourke and Kate Pakenham are appointed as the first all-female leadership team of a major London theatre. They create a programme that sees the Donmar reach new audiences in the UK and overseas, especially New York, alongside innovative ticket access schemes such as Barclays Front Row and YOUNG+FREE. A number of hit productions are broadcast across the world with NT Live, including Coriolanus with Tom Hiddleston, Les Liaisons Dangereuses with Janet McTeer and Dominic West, and Saint Joan with Gemma Arterton. This bold programming continues with Privacy, The Vote – broadcast live on More4 on the night of the 2015 election – and the all-female Shakespeare Trilogy staged at Donmar King’s Cross.
Michael Longhurst takes over as Artistic Director in March 2019, joined by Executive Director Henny Finch. During their tenure, the theatre is nominated for 19 Olivier Awards with the programme including new plays by writers such as Lucy Kirkwood, Jack Thorne, Lynn Nottage, Branden Jacobs-Jenkins and Alice Birch, with classics such as Kit Harington in Henry V and Macbeth with David Tennant and Cush Jumbo (which transferred to the West End in September 2024), and Best New Musical Olivier nominees The Band’s Visit and Next to Normal (which transferred to the West End in June 2024). During the pandemic, the Donmar produces Blindness with Juliet Stevenson which toured the world during 2020, and Michael Longhurst’s sell-out production of Constellations, with four different casts, which broke box office records at the Vaudeville Theatre. In 2021, Michael and Henny led a major capital refurbishment of the theatre, to bring it up to date in terms of accessibility, sustainability and audience experience.
TODAY
Tim Sheader became the new Artistic Director of the Donmar in March 2024, becoming joint CEO alongside Henny Finch. The Fear of 13 and Natasha, Pierre & the Great Comet of 1812 are nominated for 8 Olivier Awards including Best New Play and Best New Musical.Below is a list of past productions at the Donmar. Unless otherwise stated, all productions were presented at the Donmar Warehouse in Covent Garden, London.
PAST PRODUCTIONS
Here's a list of our past productions. Unless indicated, all productions took place at the Donmar Warehouse in Earlham Street.
28 March - 27 April 2025
THE CHERRY ORCHARD
St. Ann's Warehouse, New York
15 FEBRUARY - 12 APRIL 2025
BACKSTROKE
9 DECEMBER 2024 - 8 FEBRUARY 2025
NATASHA, PIERRE & THE GREAT COMET OF 1812
4 OCTOBER - 30 NOVEMBER 2024
THE FEAR OF 13
1 OCTOBER - 14 DECEMBER 2024
MACBETH
Harold Pinter Theatre
28 JUNE - 24 AUGUST 2024
SKELETON CREW
18 JUNE - 21 SEPTEMBER 2024
NEXT TO NORMAL
Wyndham's Theatre
20 JUNE - 12 JULY
MACBETH: SOMETHING WICKED - Schools' Tour
26 APRIL - 22 JUNE 2024
THE CHERRY ORCHARD
17 February 2024 – 13 April 2024
THE HUMAN BODY
8 December 2023 – 10 February 2024
MACBETH
16 October – 2 December 2023
CLYDE’S
14 August – 7 October 2023
NEXT TO NORMAL
2 June – 29 July 2023
WHEN WINSTON WENT TO WAR WITH THE WIRELESS
21 June-14 July 2023
HENRY V: SCHOOLS’ TOUR
7 April – 27 May 2023
PRIVATE LIVES
10 February – 25 March 2023
TROUBLE IN BUTETOWN
9 December 2022 – 4 February 2023
WATCH ON THE RHINE
26 September – 3 December 2022
THE BAND’S VISIT
6 – 17 October 2022
ADULT CHILDREN
London Film Festival
1 – 17 September 2022
SILENCE
12 – 27 August 2022
THE TRIALS
10 June – 6 August 2022
A DOLL’S HOUSE, PART 2
15 April – 5 June 2022
MARYS SEACOLE
11 February 2022 – 9 April 2022
HENRY V
10 December 2021 – 5 February 2022
FORCE MAJEURE
7 October 2021 – 27 November 2021
LOVE AND OTHER ACTS OF VIOLENCE
21 – 25 September 2021
SEARCH PARTY
18 June – 12 September 2021
CONSTELLATIONS
At the Vaudeville Theatre
5 – 16 July 2021
TEENAGE DICK SCHOOLS TOUR
20 March 2021
ASSEMBLY
A Donmar Local Production broadcast live from 16 locations across the UK
From 9 February 2021
MONUMENTS
A Donmar Local Production
YouTube premiere 9 February 2021
1 August – 5 September 2020
BLINDNESS
A socially distanced sound installation in the Donmar Warehouse
13 – 20 May 2020
MIDNIGHT YOUR TIME
YouTube Premiere, 13 May 2020
6 February – 14 March 2020
FAR AWAY
6 December – 1 February 2020
TEENAGE DICK
11 October – 30 November 2019
[BLANK]
16 August – 5 October 2019
APPROPRIATE
20 June – 10 August 2019
EUROPE
2 June – 20 July 2019
SWEAT
Gielgud Theatre
24 – 30 June 2019
WRITING WRONGS, part of Fly the Flag
6 April – 8 June 2019
SWEET CHARITY
8 February – 30 March 2019
BERBERIAN SOUND STUDIO
7 December 2018 – 2 February 2019
SWEAT
9-27 January 2019
ST NICHOLAS
Goodman Theatre, Chicago
28 September – 1 December 2018
MEASURE FOR MEASURE
29 October – 3 November 2018
DONMAR ON DESIGN 2018
10 September – 5 October 2018 and 9-20 October 2018
ST NICHOLAS
Donmar Dryden Street & Dublin Theatre Festival
2 August – 22 September 2018
ARISTOCRATS
4 June – 28 July 2018
THE PRIME OF MISS JEAN BRODIE
29 March – 26 May 2018
THE WAY OF THE WORLD
8 February – 24 March 2018
THE YORK REALIST
7 December 2017 – 3 February 2018
BELLEVILLE
12 October – 2 December 2017
THE LADY FROM THE SEA
6 – 10 November 2017
DONMAR ON DESIGN
17 August – 7 October 2017
KNIVES IN HENS
24 June – 12 August 2017
THE PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION AND CONSTITUTIONAL AFFAIRS COMMITTEE TAKES ORAL EVIDENCE ON WHITEHALL’S RELATIONSHIP WITH KIDS COMPANY
31 July – 7 August 2017
POWER SEASON DEBATES SERIES
27 June – 1 July 2017
BECOMING: PART ONE
21 April – 17 June 2017
THE RESISTIBLE RISE OF ARTURO UI
2 March – 15 April 2017
LIMEHOUSE
13 January – 19 February 2017
THE TEMPEST
St Ann’s Warehouse, New York
9 December 2016 – 18 February 2017
SAINT JOAN
8 October 2016 – 8 January 2017
LES LIAISONS DANGEREUSES
Booth Theater, New York
23 September – 17 December 2016
SHAKESPEARE TRILOGY
Donmar Kings’s Cross
6 October – 3 December 2016
ONE NIGHT IN MIAMI…
23 June – 20 August 2016
FAITH HEALER
2 July – 14 August 2016
PRIVACY
Public Theater, New York
21 April – 18 June 2016
ELEGY
18 February – 16 April 2016
WELCOME HOME, CAPTAIN FOX!
11 December 2015 – 13 February 2016
LES LIAISONS DANGEREUSES
6 November – 13 December 2015
HENRY IV
St Ann’s Warehouse, New York
2 October – 5 December 2015
TEDDY FERRARA
30 July – 26 September 2015
SPLENDOUR
21 May – 25 July 2015
TEMPLE
24 April – 7 May 2015
THE VOTE
28 April 2015
MY MARK
17 January – 11 April 2015
MY NIGHT WITH REG
Apollo, London
12 February – 4 April 2015
CLOSER
5 December 2014 – 7 February 2015
CITY OF ANGELS
3 October – 29 November 2014
HENRY IV
31 July – 27 September 2014
MY NIGHT WITH REG
10 September 2014
MY NIGHT WITH REG PANEL DISCUSSION
5 June – 26 July 2014
FATHERS AND SONS
10 April – 31 May 2014
PRIVACY
16 January – 19 April 2014
THE WEIR
Wyndham’s Theatre, London
20 February – 5 April 2014
VERSAILLES
5 March – 2 April 2014
IMPOSSIBLE CONVERSATIONS
6 December 2013 – 13 February 2014
CORIOLANUS
30 November 2013 – 2 February 2014
THE NIGHT ALIVE
Atlantic Theatre, New York
3 October – 30 November 2013
ROOTS
3 October – 9 November 2013
JULIUS CAESAR
St Ann’s Warehouse, New York
1 August – 28 September 2013
THE SAME DEEP WATER AS ME
10 – 21 July and 4 – 18 September
THE MACHINE
Manchester International Festival & New York
13 June – 27 July 2013
THE NIGHT ALIVE
18 April – 8 June 2013
THE WEIR
15 February – 13 April 2013
TRELAWNY OF THE WELLS
30 November 2012 – 9 February 2013
JULIUS CAESAR
10 January – 2 February 2013
THE SILENCE OF THE SEA
13 December 2012 – 5 January 2013
THE DANCE OF DEATH
15 November – 8 December 2012
THE PROMISE
27 September – 24 November 2012
BERENICE
26 July – 22 September 2012
PHILADELPHIA, HERE I COME!
31 May – 21 July 2012
THE PHYSICISTS
19 April – 26 May 2012
MAKING NOISE QUIETLY
9 February – 14 April 2012
THE RECRUITING OFFICER
1 December 2011 – 4 February 2012
RICHARD II
5 – 28 January 2012
HUIS CLOS
Trafalgar Studios
8 – 31 December 2011
DUBLIN CAROL
Trafalgar Studios
10 November – 3 December 2011
SALT, ROOT AND ROE
Trafalgar Studios
13 October – 26 November 2011
INADMISSIBLE EVIDENCE
4 August – 8 October 2011
ANNA CHRISTIE
8 June – 30 July 2011
LUISE MILLER
30 May – 3 June 2011
POETRY WEEK WITH JOSEPHINE HART
28 April – 5 June 2011
KING LEAR
BAM, New York
7 April – 28 May 2011
MOONLIGHT
11 February – 2 April 2011
THE 25TH ANNUAL PUTNAM COUNTY SPELLING BEE
3 December 2010 – 5 February 2011
KING LEAR
25 November – 18 December 2010
LES PARENTS TERRIBLES
Trafalgar Studios
28 October – 20 November 2010
NOVECENTO
Trafalgar Studios
30 September – 23 October 2010
LOWER NINTH
Trafalgar Studios
7 November 2010
COMPANY: A CONCERT PERFORMANCE
31 October 2010
MERRILY WE ROLL ALONG: A CONCERT PERFORMANCE
10 September – 27 November 2010
PASSION
22 July – 4 September 2010
THE PRINCE OF HOMBURG
27 May – 17 July 2010
THE LATE MIDDLE CLASSES
16 April – 16 May 2010
CREDITORS
BAM, New York
1 April – 22 May 2010
POLAR BEARS
11 March – 27 June 2010
RED
John Golden Theater, New York
11 February – 27 March 2010
SERENADING LOUIE
3 December 2009 – 6 February 2010
RED
8 October – 28 November 2009
LIFE IS A DREAM
12 September – 6 December 2009
HAMLET
Broadhurst Theater, New York
23 July – 3 October 2009
A STREETCAR NAMED DESIRE
29 May – 22 August 2009
HAMLET
Wyndham’s Theatre, London
14 May – 18 July 2009
A DOLL’S HOUSE
19 March – 9 May 2009
DIMETOS
13 March – 23 May 2009
MADAME DE SADE
Wyndham’s Theatre, London
22 January – 14 March 2009
BE NEAR ME
5 December 2008 – 7 March 2009
TWELFTH NIGHT
Wyndham’s Theatre, London
20 November 2008 – 17 January 2009
T.S. ELIOT FESTIVAL
25 September – 15 November 2008
CREDITORS
12 September – 29 November 2008
IVANOV
Wyndham’s Theatre, London
8 August – 20 September 2008
PIAF
5 June – 2 August 2008
THE CHALK GARDEN
10 April – 2 August 2008
SMALL CHANGE
28 February – 5 April 2008
THE MAN WHO HAD ALL THE LUCK
29 November 2007 – 23 February 2008
OTHELLO
14 September – 24 November 2007
PARADE
26 July – 6 September 2007
ABSURDIA
31 May – 21 July 2007
BETRAYAL
19 April – 26 May 2007
KISS OF THE SPIDER WOMAN
31 March – 19 August 2007
FROST/NIXON
Bernard B. Jacobs Theatre, Broadway
15 February – 14 April 2007
JOHN GABRIEL BORKMAN
30 November 2006 – 10 February 2007
DON JUAN IN SOHO
12 October – 25 November 2006
THE CRYPTOGRAM
10 August – 7 October 2006
FROST/NIXON
8 June – 5 August 2006
A VOYAGE ROUND MY FATHER
6 April – 3 June 2006
PHAEDRA
23 February – 1 April 2006
THE CUT
8 December 2005 – 18 February 2006
THE WILD DUCK
20 October – 3 December 2005
THE GOD OF HELL
8 September – 15 October 2005
THE PHILANTHROPIST
14 July – 3 September 2005
MARY STUART
26 May – 9 July 2005
THIS IS HOW IT GOES
20 May – 6 December 2005
GUYS AND DOLLS
7 April – 21 May 2005
THE COSMONAUT’S LAST MESSAGE
TO THE WOMAN HE ONCE LOVED
IN THE FORMER SOVIET UNION
17 February – 2 April 2005
DAYS OF WINE AND ROSES
19 November 2004 – 12 February 2005
GRAND HOTEL
9 September – 13 November 2004
HECUBA
1 July – 4 September 2004
OLD TIMES
29 April – 26 June 2004
HENRY IV
18 March – 24 April 2004
THE DARK
12 February – 13 March 2004
WORLD MUSIC
20 November – 2003 – 7 February 2004
AFTER MISS JULIE
11 September – 15 November 2003
THE HOTEL IN AMSTERDAM
20 June – 6 September 2003
PACIFIC OVERTURES
24 April – 14 June 2003
CALIGULA
20 February – 19 April 2003
ACCIDENTAL DEATH OF AN ANARCHIST
4 February 2003 – 4 January 2004
TAKE ME OUT
Walter Kerr Theater, New York
10 January – 9 March 2003
UNCLE VANYA and TWELFTH NIGHT
BAM, New York
5 December 2002 – 15 February 2003
THE VORTEX
11 October – 30 November 2002
TWELFTH NIGHT
6 September – 20 November 2002
UNCLE VANYA
23 August – 24 November 2002
TAKE ME OUT
Public Theater, New York
5 – 31 August 2002
DIVAS AT THE DONMAR
20 June – 3 August 2002
TAKE ME OUT
9 May – 15 June 2002
PROOF
4 April – 4 May 2002
LOBBY HERO
11 – 30 March 2002
FRAME 312
6 March – 13 June 2002
JESUS HOPPED THE ‘A’ TRAIN
30 November 2001 – 2 March 2002
PRIVATES ON PARADE
4 October – 24 November 2001
THE LITTLE FOXES
3 – 29 September 2001
DIVAS AT THE DONMAR
28 June – 1 September 2001
A LIE OF THE MIND
19 April – 23 June 2001
TALES FROM HOLLYWOOD
8 March – 14 April 2001
BOSTON MARRIAGE
1 December 2000 – 3 March 2001
MERRILY WE ROLL ALONG
14 September – 25 November 2000
TO THE GREEN FIELDS AND BEYOND
21 August – 9 September 2000
DIVAS AT THE DONMAR
15 June – 12 August 2000
ORPHEUS DESCENDING
13 April – 10 June 2000
PASSION PLAY
29 March – 13 August 2000
THE REAL THING
Ethel Barrymore Theater
3 March – 21 May 2000
AMERICAN BUFFALO
Atlantic Theater, New York
2 March – 8 April 2000
HELPLESS
28 January – 26 February 2000
AMERICAN BUFFALO
9 November – 22 December 1999
5 – 22 January 2000
THREE DAYS OF RAIN
9 September – 6 November 1999
JUNO AND THE PAYCOCK
9 August – 4 September 1999
DIVAS AT THE DONMAR
27 May – 7 August 1999
THE REAL THING
18 March – 22 May 1999
GOOD
1 – 13 March 1999
THREE DAYS OF RAIN
17 – 27 February 1999
MORPHIC RESONANCE
16 – 27 February 1999
SPLASH HATCH ON THE E GOING DOWN
27 November 2008 – 25 February 2009
THE BLUE ROOM
Cort Theater, New York
6 November 1998 – 13 February 1999
INTO THE WOODS
17 September – 31 October 1998
THE BLUE ROOM
10 August – 5 September 1998
DIVAS AT THE DONMAR
18 June – 8 August 1998
HOW I LEARNED TO DRIVE
7 May – 13 June 1998
THREE BY HAROLD PINTER
2 April – 2 May 1998
THE BULLET
3 – 28 March 1998
4 CORNERS CARLTON SEASON OF NEW WRITING
In a Little World of Our Own, Tell Me, Timeless, Sleeping Around
13 February 1998 – 4 January 2004
CABARET
Kit Kat Klub, New York
10 December 1997 – 28 February 1998
THE FRONT PAGE
21 October – 6 December 1997
ELECTRA
11 September – 18 October 1997
ENTER THE GUARDSMAN
12 August – 6 September 1997
THE SEAGULL
19 June – 9 August 1997
THE MAIDS
26 April – 14 June 1997
THE FIX
11 March – 19 April 1997
4 CORNERS CARLTON SEASON OF NEW WRITING
Badfinger, Summer Begins, Halloween Night
6 December 1996 – 8 March 1997
NINE
3 October – 30 November 1996
FOOL FOR LOVE
3 – 28 September 1996
PENTECOST
30 July – 31 August 1996
HEDDA GABLER
30 May – 27 July 1996
HABEAS CORPUS
11 April – 25 May 1996
ENDGAME
4 March – 6 April 1996
4 CORNERS SEASON OF NEW WRITING
The King of Prussia, Buddleia, Songs from a Forgotten City, Bondagers
1 December 1995 – 2 March 1996
COMPANY
7 – 25 November 1995
RUPERT STREET LONELY HEARTS CLUB
7 September – 5 November 1995
THE GLASS MENAGERIE
1 June – 6 August 1995
INSIGNIFICANCE
15 – 27 May 1995
CONVENT GARDEN FESTIVAL
11 April – 13 May 1995
OUR BOYS
21 March – 8 April 1995
HIGHLAND FLING
8 December 1994 – 18 March 1995
THE THREEPENNY OPERA
9 November – 3 December 1994
TRUE WEST
1 September – 5 November 1994
DESIGN FOR LIVING
16 June – 27 August 1994
GLENGARRY GLEN ROSS
23 May – 11 June 1994
MARIA FRIEDMAN BY SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT BY FURTHER ARRANGEMENT
9 -21 May 1994
COVENT GARDEN FESTIVAL
25 – 30 April 1994
HELEN LEDERER STILL CRAZY AFTER ALL THESE YEARS
29 March – 23 April 1994
BEAUTIFUL THING
20, 27 February and 6 March 1994
MARIA FRIEDMAN BY SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT
4, 5, 11 and 12 February 1994
HALF TIME
2 December 1993 – 26 March 1994
CABARET
10 – 27 November 1993
HAMLET
An English Touring Theatre production
16 September – 6 November 1993
THE LIFE OF STUFF
9 July – 11 September 1993
HERE
3 June – 24 July 1993
TRANSLATIONS
18 – 31 May 1993
COVENT GARDEN FESTIVAL
22 April – 15 May 1993
DON’T FOOL WITH LOVE
25 February – 17 April 1993
PLAYLAND
14 January – 20 February 1993
RICHARD III
13 November 1992 – 2 January1993
COMEDY SHORTS
22 October 1992 – 9 January 1993
ASSASSINS