About
28 Heath Street. Hampstead. London.
Fifty-five seats in the heart of Hampstead. We opened in December 2025 with a simple idea: live performance is better when you’re close to it.
Circle & Star is not a black box, not a pub room, not a churn machine. It is a salon, a gathering, a moment.
A West End salon experience in the heart of Hampstead — West End values, a salon feel. We champion new and exciting work, established artists, and experienced artists, actors and directors who want a room in which to keep innovating. It is the home of Sleeve Notes, VOICES with Guy Chambers, Lenny Beige and Fagin.
What makes this room different
- 01 A theatre, with its own front door
Not a room above a pub. The theatre has its own private doorway in Oriel Place, off Heath Street — you come up into the theatre, and nowhere else.
- 02 Sound that serves the room
Professional rig. Mixing desk. Computer-controlled systems. Calibrated for voices at this scale — not for volume. Not "good for a small venue." Just good.
- 03 Every seat is good
Tiered seating with Row A proximity throughout. There is no back of the room. There are 55 front rows.
- 04 A properly equipped stage
Backdrop curtaining, wing space, and a Yamaha upright — tuned monthly, played every night. A room that takes what happens on stage seriously.
- 05 Climate-controlled throughout
Air conditioning year-round. This is not a sweaty back room above a pub. The room is comfortable before you sit down.
- 06 Private, secure bathrooms
Private and secure, on the theatre level. No queue. No grim. The small things are how you know someone means it.
- 07 No interference
Secure and self-contained. No pub noise through the walls. No street interruptions. When something is happening on stage, nothing else competes with it.
- 08 A 100″ immersive stage screen
A full-width display built into the performance space — not a backdrop, not a prop. It opens virtual windows onto other worlds, creates portals, and carries interactive content that responds to what's happening live on stage.
- 09 Artists who choose the room
Matt Lucas, Gary Kemp, David Walliams, Mel Giedroyc, Andi Oliver, David McAlmont, Madeline Smith. They come here because intimacy changes what's possible.
- 10 Calm, professional front-of-house
A warm welcome every night. Ticketing handled with care. The room set and ready before you arrive. We look after the detail so the audience can forget about it.
- 11 Hampstead
One of London’s great cultural villages. Thirty seconds from Hampstead Tube, and 195 pay-and-display spaces within 500m of the door — free after 6pm. Dinner before, a walk on the Heath after, and a theatre in between that feels like a discovery.
Three resident series
VOICES with Guy Chambers. STORIES with David Arnold. STAGES with Lenny Beige.
Three strands, one room. Songwriters, storytellers, and the cabaret tradition — all close enough to hear breath between notes.
See what’s on →Getting here
28 Heath Street, on the corner of Oriel Place — thirty seconds from Hampstead Underground on the Northern line. The theatre has its own private doorway in Oriel Place. 195 pay-and-display spaces within 500m — free after 6pm.
Open in maps →Good to know
- 01 Where is Circle & Star Theatre?
28 Heath Street, Hampstead, London NW3 6TE. The theatre has its own private doorway in Oriel Place, thirty seconds from Hampstead Underground on the Northern line.
- 02 What is Circle & Star?
A 55-seat theatre in the heart of Hampstead — a West End salon experience. West End-calibre artists, West End-quality sound and lighting, and every seat close to the stage.
- 03 How many seats are there?
Fifty-five, tiered and close. There is no back of the room — there are 55 front rows.
- 04 What is the nearest Tube?
Hampstead, on the Northern line, is thirty seconds from the door. Hampstead Heath on the Overground is a short walk away.
- 05 Is there parking near the theatre?
Yes. Camden runs 195 pay-and-display spaces within 500m of our door, 133 of them within a four-minute walk, and every one is free after 6pm and all day Sunday. Resident bays and yellow lines nearby are controlled until 8pm, so use the pay bays.
- 06 Is Circle & Star a pub theatre?
No. Circle & Star is a theatre in its own right — its own private entrance in Oriel Place, West End-quality sound and lighting, private, secure bathrooms and air conditioning throughout.
- 07 Where is the entrance?
In Oriel Place, just off Heath Street — the theatre has its own private doorway there, thirty seconds from Hampstead Tube.
- 08 What time do doors open?
Thirty minutes before the start time. The time on your ticket is the time the show begins.
- 09 How do I book tickets?
Every show is listed on our What’s On page, with live availability and booking for each night.
- 10 Is the theatre accessible?
The building is Victorian and the theatre is not wheelchair accessible — there are steps at the entrance and a staircase up to the theatre level. Email Carri at [email protected] before you book and we will help however we can.
- 11 What kind of shows do you programme?
Songwriting and live music (VOICES), theatre and cabaret (STAGES), screen, story and ideas (STORIES), the Notes Season of album and ideas salons, and one-off evenings with singular artists.
- 12 What are Circle & Star’s signature nights?
Sleeve Notes, the listening salon where a landmark album is played whole; VOICES with Guy Chambers, the songwriting salon; Lenny Beige, whose home this is; and Steve Furst’s Fagin — Hero or Villain?
- 13 What kind of work does Circle & Star champion?
New and exciting work, established artists, and experienced artists, actors and directors who want a room in which to keep innovating and developing ideas — with West End values and a salon feel.
- 14 What do audiences say?
Circle & Star is rated 4.9 out of 5 from 39 Google reviews. People single out the intimacy — an evening that feels like a conversation — the warm welcome and the programme.
- 15 Can I hire the theatre?
Yes — for evening performances, daytime hire and filming. See hire.circleandstar.live.
STEP IN. COME UP. BE PART OF THE STORY.