Drury Lane

Drury Lane, Theatre Royal, London's most famous theatre, the present building being the fourth on the site. The first was erected by Killigrew under a charter granted by Charles II in 1662, making it one of London's two Patent Theatres. Seating about 700, it occupied a site 112 ft. by 58 ft., and being hemmed in by other buildings could be reached only by a narrow passage from Brydges Street. It opened in 1663 (as the Theatre Royal, Brydges Street) with Beaumont and Fletcher's The Humorous Lieutenant. From June 1665 to Nov. 1666 it remained closed because of plague and the Great Fire, and it was itself burnt down in 1672. The second theatre on the site, known as the Theatre Royal in Drury Lane, is believed to have been designed by Sir Christopher Wren, though there is no documentary proof. It had a pit, amphitheatre, and two galleries, holding 2,000 people; the stage depth from the front of the apron was no less than 130 ft. It opened in 1674 but lost its younger actors to the company at the more popular Dorset Garden Theatre and was forced to close. By 1682 it was evident that London could support only one theatre, so a combined company under Betterton settled at Drury Lane. In 1690 the patent was bought by Christopher Rich; his clashes with some of the actors led to their departure to Lincoln's Inn Fields, again headed by Betterton. Rich lost his charter in 1709, and the theatre closed. A triumvirate consisting of Colley Cibber, Robert Wilks, and Thomas Doggett then took over, and with Anne Oldfield as their leading lady inaugurated a period of prosperity which lasted until 1733. Serious difficulties then arose between the theatre's management and the leaseholders, which were resolved only when complete control was gained by Charles Fleetwood (?—c.1745). He ran into difficulties himself when he abolished the Footmen's Gallery, an action which led to rioting in 1737, and being an inveterate gambler he soon plunged the theatre into debt. The one noteworthy event of this period was Macklin's performance of Shylock in The Merchant of Venice in 1741, in effect inaugurating the new school of interpretative acting which Garrick was later to popularize. Garrick himself made his first appearance at Drury Lane in 1742, as Chaumont in Otway's The Orphan. Five years later, with James Lacy, he took over the theatre and rescued it from bankruptcy. His first production was again The Merchant of Venice with Macklin; and with a good company he brought prosperity to the theatre for the next 30 years. He was responsible for major alterations to the building by Robert Adam in 1775, the year in which the 20-year-old Mrs Siddons made an unsuccessful début as Lady Anne to his Richard III. Garrick himself retired a year later and was succeeded by Sheridan. In 1780 the theatre was damaged during the Gordon Riots, and a company of Guards was then posted there nightly, a custom not abolished until 1896. In 1788 Sheridan, preoccupied with politics, handed over the effective management of the theatre to John Philip Kemble while still retaining his share of the patent. The theatre was rebuilt in 1791 on a site 155 ft. by 300 ft., its capacity being increased to 3,611. This third Drury Lane opened in 1794 with a concert. Plays began with Kemble and Mrs Siddons in Macbeth, followed by an epilogue during which an iron safety curtain was lowered to prove that the theatre was now protected against fire. This device, however, did not prevent it burning down again in 1809, after a stormy period during which Sheridan's mismanagement caused Kemble to leave for Covent Garden, taking Mrs Siddons with him, and their place had been taken by melodramas and spectacles which brought real elephants and performing dogs on to the stage. After the fire there were no funds for rebuilding, but the situation was saved by the brewer Samuel Whitbread, a shareholder with Sheridan in the patent, who raised £400,000.

This fourth Drury Lane, which still stands, is a four-tier house with a capacity of 2,283, a proscenium opening of 42 ft., and a stage depth of 80 ft. It opened in 1812 with Hamlet. Edmund Kean appeared there from 1814 until 1820; but even his success could not keep pace with rising costs. Whitbread committed suicide in 1815, and Elliston, who took over in 1819 and under whose management the portico was added in 1820 and the interior reconstructed in 1822, finally went bankrupt. He was succeeded in 1826 by the American impresario Stephen Price, under whom Charles Kean made his first, and Grimaldi his last, appearance. From then onwards the history of Drury Lane was one of unmitigated artistic and financial disaster, apart from the brief reign of Macready from 1841 to 1843. The theatre closed in 1878 but in 1879 Sir Augustus Harris reopened it with a revival of Henry V and embarked on a series of spectacular shows, realistic melodramas, and an annual pantomime of great splendour. He was succeeded in 1896 by Arthur Collins, who remained until 1923. He continued Harris's policy, staging explosions, earthquakes, avalanches, chariot races, shipwrecks, and, in The Whip (1909), a horse race with real horses; but he also had to his credit Irving's last London season, Ellen Terry's Jubilee (both 1905), and Forbes-Robertson's farewell appearance (1913). In 1921–2 the interior was reconstructed. From 1924 to 1931 there was a run of great musicals including Rose-Marie (1925), The Desert Song (1927), Show Boat (1928), New Moon (1929), and The Land of Smiles (1931). Ivor Novello next occupied the theatre with Glamorous Night (1935), Careless Rapture (1936), Crest of the Wave (1937), and The Dancing Years (1939). Drury Lane then became the headquarters of the Entertainments National Service Association (ENSA), under Basil Dean, reopening with Noël Coward's Pacific 1860 (1946), followed by a series of popular musicals by Rodgers and Hammerstein—Oklahoma! (1947), Carousel (1950), South Pacific (1951), and The King and I (1953). My Fair Lady (1958) ran for nearly five years, and the musicals Camelot (1964), Hello, Dolly! (1965), A Chorus Line (1976), 42nd Street (1984), and Miss Saigon (1989) were all successful.