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On the curving thoroughfare of the Aldwych, where the West End meets the legal quarter around the Strand, stands the Aldwych Theatre, a handsome Edwardian playhouse that has been a fixture of London theatreland for well over a century. It opened in 1905 as one of a matching pair of theatres built either side of the Waldorf Hotel, designed by the prolific theatre architect W.G.R. Sprague in a richly decorated style, with a horseshoe auditorium arranged over several tiers and seating in the region of twelve hundred. Across its long history the theatre has staged an extraordinary variety of work, from the celebrated farces of the inter-war years that became known as the Aldwych farces to musicals, classic revivals and contemporary drama. For more than two decades from the 1960s it served as the London base of the Royal Shakespeare Company, hosting acclaimed productions before the company moved to its own purpose-built home in the Barbican. In later years the theatre has been associated with long-running musicals that have drawn audiences from around the world. The interior retains much of its original Edwardian charm, with ornate plasterwork, a domed ceiling and an intimate atmosphere that brings performers and audience close together despite the building's capacity. Set within easy reach of Covent Garden, the river and the other great houses of the West End, it forms part of the dense cluster of theatres that makes the district one of the world's leading centres of live performance. Tickets for current productions can be booked online or at the box office, and matinee and evening performances run through most of the week throughout the year across every season of the calendar. The location places it within a short stroll of Somerset House, the river walk and the bustle of theatreland, so an evening at a performance can easily be combined with dinner in one of the many nearby restaurants. Like other West End houses, the theatre relies on its productions rather than its building to draw audiences, yet the period architecture adds a sense of occasion that newer venues struggle to match, and a night here offers both a show and a slice of theatrical heritage. Generations of leading actors have trodden its stage, and the playhouse remains a working part of the living theatre district rather than a museum piece.