Duke of York's Theatre to be renamed after Sir Tom Stoppard
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Image source, Getty ImagesBySean CoughlanRoyal correspondentPublished8 minutes agoThe Duke of York's theatre in London's West End is to be renamed after the playwright Sir Tom Stoppard, says the theatre's owner.
ATG Entertainment said renaming the venue the Tom Stoppard Theatre would be a "lasting tribute... to one of the most influential playwrights in British theatre". The theatre owners did not say whether the renaming decision was connected with the former Duke of York, Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, who lost the title following associations with the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
The theatre, initially called the Trafalgar Square theatre, became the Duke of York's in 1895, named after the duke who went on to become King George V. Image source, Getty ImagesNaming the theatre after Sir Tom, who died in November 2025, "felt like the right and natural way to keep him among us", said Andrew Rawlinson, ATG Entertainment's business director in London. "Sir Tom Stoppard gave the British theatre some of its most brilliant and best loved work, and he did it with a wit and a humanity that audiences carried home with them," he said.
The announcement was welcomed by Stoppard's children - Ollie, Barny, Will and Ed Stoppard - who said: "The West End was close to his heart and we feel sure he would be thrilled and humbled in equal measure by this great honour." Among his plays are Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead, Jumpers, Travesties, The Real Thing, The Invention of Love, The Coast of Utopia, Rock 'n' Roll and Leopoldstadt. One of Sir Tom's plays, Arcadia, is currrently playing at the theatre, which will have its signage changed to the new name in the next few months.
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