Originally opening on 11 March 1882 with a revival of ​Offenbach​’s ​Madam Favart​. The theatre was rebuilt in 1905 but during the work, part of the roof from the adjacent Charing Cross railway station collapsed and crashed through the roof and walls of the theatre. The building was repaired and re-opened as the ​Playhouse Theatre​ on 28th January 1907 with a one act play called ​The Drums of Oudh​ and a play called ​Toddles​, by ​Tristan Bernard and ​Andre Godfernaux.

Since then, the ​Playhouse​ has hosted the likes of ​WS Gilbert​, legendary actress-manager Gladys Cooper​, the BBC, The Almeida Theatre Company, The Peter Hall Company and Janet McTeer​. In January 2003, Maidstone Productions became the new owners of the theatre. The Ambassador Theatre Group have maintained stewardship of Playhouse Theatre since 2003 and have since gone on to acquire 100% ownership.

The theatre has most recently played host to shows such as ​Fiddler on the Roof, Cyrano de Bergerac with James McAvoy, and The Seagull with Emilia Clarke. The highly anticipated production of Cabaret starring Eddie Redmayne and Jessie Buckley opens at the Playhouse from 15 November 2021.