Mac Rating: 5.00 | Votes: 1 | Date: 20/06/2026 18:27:00

Built in 1913 as a twin to the neighbouring St Martin's Theatre and designed by the prolific theatre architect W. G. R. Sprague, the Ambassadors is one of the smallest of London's West End theatres, seating just over four hundred. It stands on West Street in the West End, opposite The Ivy and a short walk from Cambridge Circus. The theatre opened on 5 June 1913 and is most famous as the original home of Agatha Christie's The Mousetrap, which premiered there on 25 November 1952 with a cast including Richard Attenborough and Sheila Sim. The play broke the record for the longest West End run and continued at the Ambassadors until 1974, when it transferred next door to the larger St Martin's, where it still runs. Other notable productions have included the Royal Shakespeare Company's staging of Les Liaisons Dangereuses starring Alan Rickman, and for several years the percussion show Stomp. Between 1996 and 1999 the theatre was divided into two studio spaces to house the Royal Court Theatre Upstairs, after which it was restored and briefly renamed the New Ambassadors. Now owned by ATG Entertainment, which bought the venue in 2018 and carried out extensive capital works, it seats 406 across stalls and circle. It has served as a creative base for leading producers and is the resident venue for the National Youth Theatre, while a commemorative statuette presented by Agatha Christie marks its Mousetrap years. Granted Grade II listed status in 1973, the intimate, Louis XVI-styled auditorium keeps audiences close to the stage, with the stalls built below street level. Its small scale and long history make it a distinctive part of the West End, hosting plays, musicals and limited runs in the heart of theatreland. Its near-identical twin next door, St Martin's, was built slightly later, and the pair were designed to be read together as a matched architectural composition on West Street. The Ambassadors' compact size has made it a favoured home for intimate plays and limited engagements that suit a smaller house, and its long association with The Mousetrap remains a key part of West End theatre history.