Ustinov Studio

{{Short description|Theatre in Bath, England}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}

{{Infobox Theatre

|name = Ustinov Studio

|image = Ustinovtheatre.JPG

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|city = Bath

|country = England

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|architect = Haworth Tompkins

|owner =

|capacity = 126

|type =

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|website = https://www.theatreroyal.org.uk/your-visit/ustinov/

}}

The Ustinov Studio is a studio theatre in Bath, England. It is the Theatre Royal's second space, built in 1997 at the rear of the building on Monmouth Street. It is named after the actor Peter Ustinov who led the fundraising programme for the Studio's creation in the early 1990s.

In 2006 it closed for a £1.5million,{{cite web|last=Brien|first=Jeremy|title=Breakfast with Mugabe|url=http://www.thestage.co.uk/reviews/review.php/19954/breakfast-with-mugabe|work=Reviews|publisher=The Stage|access-date=7 May 2011}} 15-month refurbishment undertaken by Haworth Tompkins.{{cite web|title=Projects — Ustinov Studio, Bath|url=http://www.charcoalblue.com/projects/being-used/ustinov-studio-bath.html|publisher=Chjarcoal Blue|access-date=7 May 2011}} The Ustinov Studio re-opened in February 2008,{{cite web|title=Ustinov Studio|url=http://www.guide2bath.com/information/134/Ustinov-Studio|publisher=Guide to Bath|access-date=7 May 2011}} following a period of closure for refurbishment, with their own production of Breakfast With Mugabe starring Joseph Marcell, Miles Anderson and Nicholas Bailey.{{cite web|last=Grace|first=Fraser|title=Breakfast with Mugabe|url=http://www.britishtheatreguide.info/reviews/breakfastmugbath-rev.htm|publisher=British Theatre Guide|access-date=7 May 2011}}

From 2015, the studio was led by the Artistic Director Laurence Boswell. In the 2012 American Season at the Ustinov Studio, Sarah Ruhl's In the Next Room (or The Vibrator Play) was the winner of the Best New Play — Theatre Awards UK 2012 and nominated for three Tony Awards. The Ustinov Studio was also nominated for the Empty Space ... Peter Brook Award 2012. The Daily Telegraph's Dominic Cavendish praised the venue as a "constantly bubbling fount of marvels" at the awards ceremony. The Ustinov also received a second consecutive nomination for the 2013 awards.

In autumn 2013, the Ustinov presented The Spanish Golden Age Season, three new translations of rarely seen plays. These included the tragedy Punishment without Revenge, and the romantic comedies Don Gil of the Green Breeches and A Lady of Little Sense, which ran in repertory with a cast of ten actors in all three plays between September and December 2013. It was later transferred to the Arcola Theatre.

In summer 2014, the Ustinov Studio presented a new comedy, Bad Jews,{{cite web|title=Bad Jews|url=http://www.theatreroyal.org.uk/page/3009/Bad-Jews/1091|publisher=Theatre Royal|access-date=18 May 2016|archive-date=10 June 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160610190856/http://www.theatreroyal.org.uk/page/3009/Bad-Jews/1091|url-status=dead}} and in November of the same year, a black comedy by Florian Zeller, The Father, starring Kenneth Cranham.{{cite news|last1=Cavendish|first1=Dominic|title=The Father, Theatre Royal Bath, review: 'losing the plot is the point'|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/theatre/theatre-reviews/11203810/The-Father-Theatre-Royal-Bath-review-losing-the-plot-is-the-point.html|access-date=18 May 2016|work=The Daily Telegraph|date=2 November 2014}} Both plays went on to national and international success in the following two years, running almost continuously on several tours and West End transfers, culminating in Kenneth Cranham winning the Olivier Award for Best Actor in a Play at the 2016 Awards Ceremony.{{cite web|last1=Marshall|first1=Charlotte|title=Kenneth Cranham Wins Best Actor Olivier|url=http://www.officiallondontheatre.co.uk/news/latest-news/article/item358567/kenneth-cranham-wins-best-actor-olivier/|publisher=Official London Theatre|access-date=18 May 2016}}