[4] One of the first was in 1936 when Vivien Leigh played Anne Boleyn in Henry VIII, three years before she found fame in Gone with the Wind.

Subsequent actors and actresses include Anna Neagle, Eileen Atkins, Bernard Bresslaw, Jeremy Irons, Michael Gambon, Kate O’Mara, Lesley Garrett, Richard E. Grant, Ralph Fiennes,[5] Hugh Bonneville, Damian Lewis,[6] Benedict Cumberbatch,[7] Sheridan Smith[8].

[20] This partnership led to the 2019 production of Humperdinck’s Hansel and Gretel[21] which included an ensemble of children from the Pimlico Musical Foundation.

The first overseas transfer was of the 1956 productions of Hamlet and Twelfth Night when the theatre was invited to perform at the Baalbek Festival in Lebanon.

In 2011, Crazy For You transferred to the West End’s Novello Theatre[30] and, the following year, Sheader and director Liam Steel re-directed their 2010 production of Into The Woods[31] in Central Park, New York for The Public Theater.

Productions that have toured the UK following seasons at the Open Air Theatre include: The Pirates of Penzance, High Society, To Kill A Mockingbird[32] (also a month-long residency at the Barbican Centre[33]), Lord of the Flies,[34] Running Wild and Pride and Prejudice.

After a second sell-out season in 2017, the production played a limited engagement at the Lyric Opera of Chicago in 2018[36] before transferring to the Barbican in 2019.