Dominic West Criticizes West End Theatre Audiences, Believes They Are Only Part of the Tourist Trail and Don’t Really Want to Be There.

Dominic West has admitted he is not impressed with West End theatre audiences and feels many of them don’t really want to be there.

The actor, 54, has set off for regional theatre and will perform in Arthur Miller’s A View from the Bridge at the 120-seat Ustinov Studio in Bath.

Speaking to The Times, Dominic admitted he thinks many people in London’s West End theatres are tourists who are only there as part of sightseeing in the capital.

He said: ‘That means only a certain small group of people will be going to the theatre and probably not enjoying it much.

‘And you get a lot of tourists in London and people are not necessarily there because they want to be there … it is because it is part of the tourist trail.’

Candid: Dominic West has admitted he is not impressed with West End theatre audiences and feels many of them don’t really want to be there

Career: The actor, 54, has set off for regional theatre and will perform in Arthur Miller’s A View from the Bridge at the 120-seat Ustinov Studio in Bath (pictured in the play ‘The River’)

The Crown actor, who is from Sheffield, added he has always enjoyed performing in regional theatres where he feels a greater sense of ‘local support’.

He said: ‘I have always enjoyed the non-London audience. In Sheffield, certainly, there is a real amazing feel from the local support you get and from a real hunger for a good play and for a good night at the theatre. Which of course there is everywhere else but I think it is more tangible outside London.’ 

Dominic can currently be seen in the sixth and final series of The Crown where he plays the then Prince Charles.

The TV star recently claimed the King is an ’emotional’ and ‘open hearted guy’ in private – ‘in spite of his buttoned up exterior’ in public.

His co-star Olivia Williams, 55, meanwhile, praised Queen Camilla for being ‘provoked and provoked and provoked’ but ‘never rising’ to it.

Speaking ahead of the launch of the last series, Dominic said: ‘[Charles] is very emotional and he’s got real anger and I think he’s got real sadness to him and real compassion and so I think he is very emotional.

‘What’s great about The Crown is that you see these public figures in private and I suspect in private he’s quite emotional, well that’s the way I played him anyway. 

‘I’ve sort of assumed that Charles is an emotional and rather open hearted guy in spite of his buttoned up exterior, which he obviously has to have in public,’ concluded the British actor.

Role: Dominic can currently be seen in the sixth and final series of The Crown where he plays the then Prince Charles (pictured with actors Rufus Kampa, left, and Will Powell, right)

Transformation: Olivia Williams transformed into Camilla Parker Bowles for the series 

Dominic added that he ‘admires’ the King – but believes the now monarch ‘gets a lot of stick and I didn’t want to add to that’.

‘I talked to a lot of people who have met him because he’s met a lot of people, he’s met probably more than anyone except the Queen and Prince Philip. Almost everyone has extremely warm, kind things to say about him,’ the actor added. 

Elsewhere, Olivia, who plays Camilla, praised the royal, saying she ‘deserved some credit’ for being the ‘perfect companion to our King’.

‘There seems to be a sort of Camilla or Diana clash, whereas I don’t think it has to be that. It was a dreadful situation,’ said the British actress.

Interview: Speaking ahead of the launch of series six, Dominic, 54, said: ‘[Charles] is very emotional and he’s got real anger and I think he’s got real sadness to him and real compassion and so I think he is very emotional’ (the King and Queen pictured on November 3, 2023)

‘It’s like a subject at school, the causes of the Second World War. How did we get to a place in society where Charles ended up marrying Diana? That was just an extraordinary anomaly that was no particular person’s fault. 

‘But moving forward, Charles and Camilla have shown that their marriage is an excellent one, and that she is the perfect companion to our King and so I did feel that deserved some credit, and also the fact that she really still hasn’t written– You know, where is the book, Camilla, her Story, Camilla, in her Words, you know? 

‘She has been provoked and provoked and provoked, and has never risen; she’s a better woman than I.’