Cockpit Theatre, Marylebone, Theatre venue in Marylebone, England
The Cockpit Theatre is a theatre in Marylebone, London, built around a central playing area surrounded by retractable seating on all sides. The layout of the auditorium can be changed to suit different staging formats, from end-on to in-the-round arrangements.
The theatre was built in 1969 and 1970 as a purpose-designed venue, and it became London's first dedicated theatre in the round after the Great Fire of London. Its circular concept deliberately drew on the Elizabethan tradition of open, audience-surrounding performance spaces.
The Cockpit Theatre is known for its rehearsed readings, where new plays are tested in front of a live audience before any full production is committed to. These events give visitors a rare chance to see work at an early stage, often with the writers present in the room.
The venue is a short walk from Edgware Road Underground station, which makes it easy to reach by public transport. Because the seating layout changes from one production to the next, it is worth checking in advance how the space will be arranged for the show you plan to see.
In 1971 and 1972, London Weekend Television used the space to record music performances across different genres, a purpose far removed from traditional theatre. This early crossover use showed that the flexible design of the auditorium appealed to industries well beyond the stage world.
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