Theatre 503 is above The Latchmere pub in Battersea and has become the home of some of the most exciting and innovative work in London. Not only do they sell cheap theatre tickets, they offer the best value for money if you want to see something different.

It originally opened in 1982 as an extension to the work being done by The Gate Theatre, and was called The Latchmere. In 2002, its name was changed and it was re-launched as a home for new writing. It premiered plays by some of the most exciting writes around and fully deserved its Peter Brook Empty Space Award.
In 2006, Tim Roseman and Paul Robinson were appointed joint Artistic Directors. Their vision, as explained on the theatre’s website is

“to develop 503 as an essential theatre; a crucible where writers, directors, actors and designers think better and bolder than they would expect. We will seek out, nurture and promote work of uncommon and exceptional promise from artists both fresh off the boat and weathered with success.”

Coming attractions include another  Writers Ensemble from new writing powerhouse, Weaver Hughes Ensemble, and ‘Warm’ by Jon Foss, the most prolific and most performed living playwright, to be directed by Simon Usher.

Here’s a rundown on some of the hottest London theatre tickets currently on sale.

Another revival of a classic Harold Pinter play opens shortly at the Duke of York’s Theatre. ‘No Man’s Land’ stars Michael Gambon, David Bradley and, making his West End debut, Little Britain’s David Walliams.

Also, promising to continue the amazing success story that is the National Theatre, the Greek tragedy ‘Oedipus’ stars Ralph Fiennes and Alan Howard. In addition, The National presents a new David Hare play, ‘Gethsemane’, directed by Howard Davies and dealing with controversies concerning the funding of political parties promises to be highly topical.

If you’re looking for a Christmas treat, ‘Treasure Island’ is the seasonal show at the Theatre Royal Haymarket this year starring Keith Allen as Long John silver.

The Donmar’s West End season at Wyndhams which has already spawned a hit with Kenneth Branagh in the title role of ‘Ivanov’, continues with ‘Twelfth Night’ starring Derek Jacobi as Malvolio. This will, in turn, be followed in May with Branagh turning director for Jude Law’s Hamlet.

On the musical front we have ‘Oliver’ opening at the Theatre Royal Drury Lane featuring the winners of television show, ‘I’d Do Anything’ (Note – Oliver tickets are currently in high demand so we recommend booking as early as possible) In March, the Palace Theatre will play host to the musical adaptation of Australian road movie, ‘Priscilla, Queen of the Desert’ starring Jason Donovan.

David Morrissey is, without doubt, one of our finest actors. Born in1964, he has established himself as one of the most popular British TV and cinema stars.

One of his earliest TV successes was the Tony Marchant drama, ‘Holding On’, in which he played a tax inspector undergoing a breakdown. Other television includes ‘Sense and Sensibility’, ‘Blackpool’, and ‘Our Mutual Friend’. A one-off drama, ‘The Deal’ won a BAFTA and bought him to the public attention when he played Gordon Brown opposite Michael Sheen playing Tony Blair.

His films include ‘Born Romantic’,’Basic Instinct 2’ and ‘The Other Boleyn Girl’.

Despite this, he has never been a regular face in the world of the london show. However, that is about to change as he appears in the new Neil LaBute play, ‘A Dark Dark House’ which opens at the Almeida later this year.

His co-star is Steven Mackintosh, who has some pretty impressive film credits himself including ‘Lock Stock and Two Smoking Barrels’,’ Prick Up Your Ears’, and ‘Land Girls’.

Mackintosh and Morrissey play brothers whose extraordinary reunion forces them to relive things from their childhood which they had tried to forget.

As they say,

“We just don’t click as people. Shame that we had to end up related”

There was fantastic news for young theatre goers this week as the government announced, via Culture Secretary Andy Burnham, that there will be one million free theatre tickets for under twenty-six year olds available as the result of a new scheme.

The scheme launches in February next year and will initially run for two years. Ninety five venues across the country are expected to be involved.

Theatres will have to apply to Arts Council England (ACE) if they want to take part. ACE will then allocate funds. The main criteria for taking part in the scheme is that the theatres concerned must

“offer a proportion of the tickets for arts productions on the same night every week – free – to anyone under twenty-six years old.”

The scheme will

“operate principally at Arts Council England or local authority supported venues.”

It is not yet known whether the commercial sector will be involved.

However, the Conservative’s shadow arts minister, Ed Vaisey, whilst welcoming the scheme, has voiced some concerns.

Firstly, he wonders whether the £2.5 million is genuine new money or is being shaved off other parts of arts funding. He also wonders whether this money can genuinely supply one million free tickets and finds it difficult to see how that adds up.

Time will tell but the cynical will, no doubt, wonder whether this is just a headline grabbing gimmick dreamt up for the Labour party conference.

The Arcola Theatre has been nominated for a Peter Brook award. This is well deserved and will hopefully help them to sell more theatre tickets.

The Arcola goes from strength to strength, attracting directors of the calibre of Bill Brydon and accomplished and star actors such as Lia Williams, who appeared in one of the recent Ibsen revivals, ‘The Lady From The Sea’.  Their forthcoming productions promise more of the same.

Small Craft Warnings by Tennessee Williams has attracted fantastic reviews including critic’s choice in Time Out. “Delivers a scorching evening….You could spend the whole evening just watching Jack Shepherd’s taciturn barman. Meredith MacNeill is outstanding.” It runs until October 18th.

Whilst the Arcola is establishing a fine reputation for its revivals, it also continues to premiere exciting new work. Currently in Studio 2 there is ‘Welcome to Ramallah’ a new play by Sonja Linden and Adah Kay.
It is late afternoon when a Jewish woman arrives at her sister’s home, in the occupied city of Ramallah. Dusk settles and with the call to prayer come neighbours, an uncle and nephew, to greet the new arrival. As night falls, an unexpected curfew prompts the sharing of old stories which threaten to tear apart the fragile harmony of the sisters’ memories.

This is an intimate, yet darkly funny play.