Theatres re-open - Nostalgic revisit of my London theatre images

This week we’ve seen the hugely welcome re-opening of some of London’s theatres. Some of the larger shows, such as The Lion King, have such a huge cast that they won’t be able to re-open until the next phase because they need full houses to make it economically viable. Still, it’s a start back on the road to recovery.

Apollo Theatre, Shaftesbury Avenue, London, showing billboards for the musical Jamie

This prompted me to go back into my photo archive from October 2019 when I spent a couple of nights taking photos of the outside of theatres in London’s West End. I also captured some night time shots of typical street scenes outside pubs and in Chinatown. It was really nostalgic and brought back such good memories. I miss the freedom of it all, more than any one specific thing. Just being able to wander inside and outside freely is something we haven’t experienced for a year and two months now, since March 2020.

I decided to pick out some of the shots I thought might be newsworthy at the moment and to load these on to my Digital Images for Sale page of my website. So that’s what I’ve spent some time doing this morning.

The top photo is of the Apollo Theatre. The three that follow are the Garrick, the Gielgud and the Prince of Wales. All of these are in beautiful old buildings. I’m really looking forward to getting back inside a theatre again. I love that moment when you step through the door into the warmth. The lights are soft and everywhere there’s a buzz of excitement as people try to find the way to their seats or the bar. Then there’s that moment when you step inside the auditorium and you can have a good look around at the decor and the audience.

Having said all that, I’m also really looking forward to getting back to the cinema and that’s likely to be my first outing since I’m more of a film fan. Cinemas can never match theatres for atmosphere though, in my book.

The Garrick Theatre, Charing Cross Road, London, by night

Gielgud Theatre, Shaftesbury Avenue, London

Prince of Wales Theatre, Coventry Street, London

Of course, there’s so much going on in the West End, I didn’t restrict myself to just theatres and I like this shot of what I think is a typical Chinatown street scene. It’s got colour, red hanging lanterns, people strolling on the pedestrianised street, Chinese restaurants (with signs in English and Chinese characters) and a neon lit bicycle rickshaw.

And just as iconic is the typical nighttime London pub scene. A brick built building, a traditional pub exterior with large windows and bright lamps, the people gathered to chat outside and in this one, the red London phone box in the foreground. Although it’s the final image it’s probably my favourite one. I do love a drink and meeting in the pub. When lockdown started I imagined I would likely drink more and spend time experimenting with lots of new cocktail recipes. The opposite has happened though! It seems the social aspect of drinking is the most important for me and without that, I’ve gradually stopped drinking alcohol altogether. So, my first time back in a pub will be a big occasion, in a casual kind of way!

The White Horse, typical London pub scene at night with red telephone box

I hope you get to enjoy or anticipate a little bit of normality this week.

Loren x