The Olivier Theatre was (of course) named after Sir Laurence Olivier – later Lord Olivier – arguably the most distinguished British actor of the twentieth century.
The Lyttelton Theatre was named after Oliver Lyttelton, the first chairman of the National Theatre's board. (As far as I can ascertain, although a member of the same aristocratic family, he was not closely related to the jazz musician Humphrey Lyttelton – best known as the chairman of the Radio 4 panel game I'm Sorry, I Haven't a Clue, from soon after its inception in 1972 until his death in 2008.)
The Cottesloe Theatre was named after John Walgrave Halford Fremantle, 4th Baron Cottesloe, 5th Baron Fremantle, who served as the Chairman of both the Arts Council of Great Britain and the South Bank Theatre Board. The Cottesloe was renamed in 2014, on its reopening after redevelopment, after the entrepreneur and philanthropist Lloyd Dorfman – founder of Travelex (the world's largest retailer of foreign exchange). Travelex pioneered sponsorship deals including Travelex Cheap Ticket Season at the National Theatre.
© Haydn Thompson 2021