New Theatre Cardiff

The New Theatre is one of Cardiff's principal receiving houses, standing on Park Place in the heart of the city centre, close to Cathays Park and a few minutes' walk from Queen Street station. Opened in 1906 and Grade II listed since 1975, it seats 1,144 and runs a busy year-round programme of touring musicals, plays, children's shows, comedy and live music, rounded off each winter with a Christmas pantomime. Owned by Cardiff Council and operated by Trafalgar Entertainment, it pairs Edwardian character with modern comforts such as a customer lift and accessible seating.

Designed by the London theatre architects Ernest Runtz and Ford and built in brick and Bath Stone, the New Theatre opened to the public on 10 December 1906. It was commissioned by Robert Redford, who had spent the previous nine years running the Theatre Royal. The stage was among the largest in the country at the time, measuring 76 feet wide by 54 feet deep, with 57 feet from the stage to the pulley grid above. The opening performance was Twelfth Night, given by Herbert Beerbohm Tree's company from His Majesty's Theatre in London, with Colonel Newcome, Trilby, The Man Who Was and Hamlet also staged in that first week.

The theatre showed its first film, The Birth of a Nation, in 1917, accompanied by a full orchestra. In the late 1920s the BBC broadcast performances and concerts live from the building, including the third act of Faust by the Carl Rosa Opera Company in October 1928. From 1931 structural alterations were made for projectors, sound equipment and a large screen, and for four years the venue operated mainly as a cinema with occasional live shows, until Prince Littler bought it in 1935 and returned it to full-time live performance.

Sarah Bernhardt, Anna Pavlova, Laurel and Hardy, Tommy Cooper, Tessie O'Shea, Tom Jones and Shirley Bassey have all appeared here, and Harold Pinter's The Homecoming had its world premiere on the stage on 26 March 1965. Welsh National Opera made the theatre its home and principal base from 1954 before eventually moving to the Wales Millennium Centre. Falling audiences in the early 1960s brought the threat of demolition and a temporary closure, but Cardiff City Corporation took a lease and reopened the theatre in September 1963, buying it outright in 1969. That July, the Prince of Wales' post-investiture tour of Wales ended with a concert here.

The building closed in 1970 for refurbishment and gained a new stage in 1976, followed by extensive works in 1988 and 1989. Sir Anthony Hopkins unveiled a bronze bust of the writer Gwyn Thomas in the foyer in 1993, and a further refurbishment in 2006 included a facelift to the exterior. In 2012 the theatre closed for three months for new seating, a customer lift and repainting of the auditorium. After the longest closure in its history during the COVID-19 pandemic, it reopened in September 2021.

The New Theatre offers accessible seating and a reduction on tickets at most performances for disabled visitors, students, people over 60 and claimants.

• Wheelchair spaces are sold in person at the box office or by phone only, so staff can match the space to your wheelchair and your needs. Wheelchair positions, seats on row V of the Stalls, Boxes and some discounts cannot be booked online.
• Lift access is available to all levels via the auditorium, and a staff member will escort you on request. Please check before booking if you have access needs, as there are still steps to most seats when you leave the lift.
• Accessible toilets: two, at the far end of the stalls bar.
• Assisted performances: BSL-interpreted, audio-described, captioned, relaxed and enhanced described performances run across the season, including a relaxed performance of the pantomime. A visual story is available on the theatre's website to help you plan your visit.
• Publications: free large print and Braille cast lists and pre-production notes are available in advance for a small number of productions, and audio, BSL and captioned flyers are provided where possible.
• Visually impaired visitors can ask staff before the show to bring interval drinks to their seat.
• Assistance dogs: hearing, guide and assistance dogs are welcome, with suitable seats offered on request when you book. Staff can care for support dogs during your visit if arranged in advance with the Front of House Management office on 02920 990 259.

hynt scheme

members can bring a personal assistant or carer free of charge. hynt cards must be presented and tickets collected in person on the day. Book by phone or in person, or email boxoffice@newtheatrecardiff.co.uk up to 24 hours before general sale with the show, date, seats and your hynt card number.

To discuss access requirements or make an access booking, contact the venue's official box office on 0343 310 0041.