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| Address | 1 Clarence Street, Richmond, London Borough of Richmond upon Thames England, UK |
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| Coordinates | 51°30′08″N 0°23′15″W / 51.5022°N 0.3875°W |
| Public transit |    Richmond |
| Type | Fringe theatre |
| Capacity | 180 |
| Construction | |
| Opened | 1971 (in previous venue) |
| Rebuilt | 1991 |
| Years active | 1971–present |
| Architect | believed to be Arthur Blomfield (original 1867 building) |
| Website | |
| www.orangetreetheatre.co.uk | |
The Orange Tree Theatre is a 180-seat theatre at 1 Clarence Street, Richmond in south-west London, which was built specifically as a theatre in the round.[1] It is housed within a disused 1867 primary school, built in Victorian Gothic style.
The theatre was founded in 1971 by its first artistic director, Sam Walters, and his actress wife Auriol Smith in a small room above the Orange Tree pub opposite the present building, which opened in 1991.[2]
Walters, the UK's longest-serving theatre director, retired from the Orange Tree Theatre in June 2014 and was succeeded as artistic director by Paul Miller, previously associate director at the Crucible Theatre in Sheffield.[3] Tom Littler, previously artistic director at the Jermyn Street Theatre, took over from Miller in December 2022.[4]
The Orange Tree Theatre specialises in staging new plays and rediscovering classics.[5] It has an education and participation programme that reaches over 10,000 people every year.
Since 2014 the theatre has won ten Offies (Off West End Awards), five UK Theatre Awards and the Alfred Fagon Audience Award. It won the Empty Space Peter Brook Award in 2006 and 2015.
- ^ "Orange Tree Theatre". VisitRichmond. London Borough of Richmond upon Thames. Retrieved 19 December 2023.
- ^ "Richmond's Theatres" (PDF). Local History Notes. London Borough of Richmond upon Thames. Retrieved 23 November 2013.
- ^ "Orange Tree appoints Paul Miller as artistic director". BBC News. 22 November 2013. Retrieved 22 November 2013.
- ^ Alex Wood (17 May 2022). "Tom Littler announced as Orange Tree Theatre's new artistic director". WhatsOnStage.com. Retrieved 19 December 2023.
- ^ David Jays (15 June 2017). "How to build a theatre season: something old, new – and a bolt from the blue". The Guardian. Retrieved 27 September 2019.