The Criterion Theatre is an 1874 theatre with the unique distinction of being mostly underground. Even dress circle seats are below street level, a fact which so concerned Victorian safety inspectors that they forced the management to close the theatre and rework the ventilation arrangements a decade after its opening.
Situated on the prime entertainment real estate of Piccadilly Circus, the Criterion was built on the site of seventeenth-century inn The White Bear. It originally regaled crowds with light and fluffy musical spectacles like 'Topsyturveydom', its opening show. In 1936, it hosted a theatre landmark when 'French Without Tears' launched playwright Terence Rattigan's career. During WWII, it put its underground location to good use as a (theoretically) bomb proof home for the BBC. In post-war years, it housed cutting edge theatre like 'Waiting For Godot', but its fortunes foundered by the '70s, when it was up for demolition. Luckily, Equity intervened, with a campaign that eventually resulted in the theatre being saved.
After long-running hit melodrama 'The 39 Steps', which closed in 2015, Criterion Theatre is currently home to West End comedy mongers Mischief Theatre's 'The Comedy About A Bank Robbery'.