Bath

Bath. The first theatre in Bath was built in 1705. On the passing of the Licensing Act in 1737 it was demolished, and the company moved to a room under Lady Hawley's Assembly Rooms. In 1750 a second theatre was erected in Orchard Street, the shell of which still exists. The two theatres were rivals until 1756, when the companies amalgamated under John Palmer and settled in Orchard Street. The theatre was reconstructed in 1767 and again in 1774; in 1768 it became a Theatre Royal under a patent from George III, the first provincial theatre in England to be so honoured. From 1778 to 1782 Mrs Siddons was a member of its stock company. A new and larger theatre was erected in Beaufort Square in 1805; it flourished for a time but by the 1820s it was in decline and its interior was destroyed by fire in 1862. Less than 12 months later the present Theatre Royal, seating 615, with a further 250 in the gallery, opened on the same site with a production by the Bristol stock company of A Midsummer Night's Dream in which Ellen Terry, aged 15, played Titania. Since 1867 it has been used by touring companies, Henry Irving's being the first to visit it. In 1979 the theatre was taken over by a Trust and in 1982 it was refurbished. It is now widely visited by major touring companies and is a prime venue for pre-London tours.