This section features details of a whole host of Theatreland records. If you would like to suggest any other records please email us at enquries@solttma.co.uk.

Longest Running West End Show:

The Mousetrap – 57 years and counting

The world’s longest-running theatre show is The Mousetrap, by Agatha Christie, which has been running for 57 years. The Mousetrap opened on 25 November 1952 at the Ambassadors theatre where it ran for nearly 22 years. On 25 March 1974, the legendary whodunit moved to the St Martin’s theatre, where it has remained ever since. The Mousetrap has now run for over 20,000 performances.

The top ten current West End long runners are as follows:

• The Mousetrap at the St Martin's theatre – 57 years
• Les Misérables at the Queen's theatre – 25 years
• The Phantom Of The Opera* at Her Majesty's theatre – 24 years
• Blood Brothers at the Phoenix theatre – 22 years
• The Woman In Black at the Fortune theatre – 21 years
• Chicago at the Cambridge theatre – 12 years
• Mamma Mia! at the Prince Of Wales theatre – 11 years
• Disney's The Lion King* at the Lyceum theatre – 11 years
• We Will Rock You* at the Dominion theatre – 8 years
• Stomp at the Ambassadors theatre – 8 years

Many of these shows have transferred theatres during their runs. Those which have only played at their current theatre are marked with an *.

Longest Running West End Musical: Les Misérables

The Cameron Mackintosh-produced musical celebrates its 25th birthday in October 2010. Set during the French Revolution, it first opened at the Barbican on 8 October 1985 before moving to the Palace theatre in December that year. It stayed at the Palace theatre until March 2004, when it transferred down Shaftesbury Avenue to the Queen’s theatre. On 8 October 2006, Les Misérables celebrated its 21st birthday, equalling the record for the West End’s longest running musical set by Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Cats. With every extra performance Les Misérables sets a new target for the rest of the West End to aim for.

Most Expensive West End Show: The Lord Of The Rings

With estimated costs of £12.5 million the musical version of The Lord Of The Rings was the most expensive West End show ever. This eclipses the previous holder of the record, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, which was reported to have costs of around £6.2 million.

Oldest West End Theatre: Theatre Royal Drury Lane

While The Theatre was London’s first playhouse in 1576 (433 years old and counting), Drury Lane was the birthplace of West End theatre, with the first venue being opened on the site in 1662. The theatre suffered at the hands of fire, but allowing time for rebuilding, there has been a theatre on the site ever since.

Biggest West End Theatre: London Coliseum

The London Coliseum (2,358 seats), home of the English National Opera, is the West End’s largest venue in terms of seats, closely followed by the Apollo Victoria (2,304), the London Palladium (2,291) and the Royal Opera House (2,262 seats).

Smallest West End Theatre: The Donmar Warehouse

Excluding studio theatres attached to larger venues, the Donmar Warehouse (248 seats) is, in terms of seat numbers, the smallest theatre to be found in the West End. Other intimate venues include Trafalgar Studio 1, with 381 seats, and the Ambassadors theatre, with 410 seats.

More information about seating capacities

Most Laurence Olivier Awards:

Dame Judi Dench (actress) and William Dudley (designer) – seven awards each and counting.

• Dame Judi Dench won her first Laurence Olivier Award in 1977 for her performance in Macbeth. Dench's seventh Laurence Olivier Award was The Society Special Award, which she won in 2004.
• William Dudley won his first Laurence Olivier Award in 1979 for Undiscovered Country and picked up his seventh award in 2004 for Hitchcock Blonde.

More information about the Laurence Olivier Awards

Longest Shakespeare Recital: Adrian Hilton

110 hours and 46 minutes of non-stop Shakespeare. Adrian Hilton’s marathon recital of Shakespeare's Complete Works took place in 1987 during a festival on the site of the original Globe theatre to mark the start of building work to construct the existing Shakespeare's Globe.

Longest Play: The Warp – around 29 hours.

While not strictly a West End production, The Warp by Neil Oram is recognised by the Guinness Book Of Records as the longest play in history. The play (which could also be described as 10 plays performed in sequence) tells the story of an English mystic’s journey through life. The Warp was most recently performed at various venues in London during the late 1990s, including the Albany and the Roundhouse.