The New Theater, Cardiff

The New Theatre of Cardiff is located on Park Place in the center of town, near Cathays Park. It first opened in 1906. It was designed by theater architects Ernest Runtz and Ford, a London-based architectural firm. It was made with Bath Stone. The stage was 76 feet wide and 54 feet deep. The grid was 57 feet above the stage.

The first performance in the theater was Shakespeare's Twelfth Night in December of 1906. The theater had a seating capacity 1,144. It presented musicals, plays, children's theatre, touring shows and an annual Christmas pageant. In the 1920s BBC's radio shows and concerts were broadcast live from the theater.

For a time in the 1930s the theater was used exclusively for film expositions but it returned to theatrical performances in 1935. Famous performing artists appearing at the theater include Sara Bernhardt, Anna Pavlova, Laurel and Hardy, Tom Jones, Tommy Cooper and Shirley Bassey. Harold Pinter's THE HOMECOMING premiered there in March 1965.

The theater was closed for a time in the 1990s for a complete makeover. After a facelift to the facade in 2006 and the installation of new seating in 2012 plus an elevator and a repainting of the auditorium, the Theatre is open again.