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Confused by definitions of 'off-West End' and 'fringe'? Our theatre critic Mark Shenton provides a guide and recommends the spaces to watch...

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Theatregoers unaccustomed to the definitions by which London's theatres are sometimes arbitrarily divided, particularly in the listings magazines, may well wonder why the Donmar Warehouse (in the heart of Covent Garden) and Soho Theatre (in Dean Street W1) are somehow designated off-West End, while Richmond Theatre and Lyric Hammersmith (located in those District Line suburbs) make it to the West End section.

The answer is that it's only partly a matter of geography; in fact, it's frequently a question of philosophy.

Are you receiving me? Arsenic and Old Lace at the Strand Theatre

Most West End theatres, for instance, don't operate what could be called an artistic policy: they are what are known as 'receiving theatres', available for hire to the highest bidders. (How else do you account for Cliff - The Musical, Arsenic and Old Lace or Mum's The Word?).

Among the theatres listed as West End, only the National, Royal Court and Lyric Hammersmith function as producing theatres, making their own product for their own stages.

off-West End venues

So off-West End venues are the next rung of theatres that are mostly also producing houses - but on a smaller scale of budget (and seating capacity) than those three.

Lynn Farleigh as Bernarda Alba at the Orange Tree in Richmond

They include such purpose-built theatres as the splendid new Hampstead Theatre at Swiss Cottage, the Donmar Warehouse and Soho Theatre, Richmond's Orange Tree and Kilburn's Tricycle, as well as three of the more important pub theatres, the Bush, Gate and King's Head, and the long-established Young Vic and Theatre Royal at Stratford East.

All of these, with their artistic directors and discernable policies, promise at least a degree of professionalism onstage (and off, with box offices that actually answer and don't automatically go to answerphone).

fringe performance spaces

Then there's the fringe - the catch-all for the other myriad performance spaces in the capital, from derelict underground stations (Aldwych Tube for instance) and railway arches (Arch 12a in Bethnal Green) to endless pub theatres from Camden and Clapham to Greenwich, Hampstead, Highgate, Islington, Kennington and Little Venice.

Here, the quality of the theatregoing experience may be considerably more variable, but the payoff is a greater sense of adventure, much cheaper seats and the chance of making real discoveries.

recommended

Growing in reputation: Southwark Playhouse in SE1

Among this subset, a number of theatres are growing in reputation: Dalston's Arcola, Chelsea Theatre at World's End in the King's Road, and Southwark Playhouse, all of them for programming challenging work as well as being inviting spaces to visit.

Also recommended: the Bridewell at Blackfriars - in a converted indoor Victorian swimming pool - is arguably the most important laboratory space for the development of musical theatre in London.

The tiny Jermyn Street Theatre, off Piccadilly Circus, is a cabaret haven, and the Blue Elephant, tucked away off the Walworth Road in Camberwell, is an intriguingly versatile space with an ace bar upstairs.

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