Opera Comique

Opera Comique, London, at the junction of the Strand and Holywell Street. This stood back to back with the old Globe Theatre in Newcastle Street, the pair being known as the Rickety Twins, having been hastily erected in the hope of compensation—which was not forthcoming—when the area was rebuilt. It opened in 1870 with a French company under Déjazet in Sardou's Les Prés St Gervais. In 1871 actors from the Comédie-Française under Gôt, driven from home by the Franco-Prussian War, made their first appearance outside Paris. The theatre was then used mainly by visiting foreigners—including Ristori in 1873– with long periods of inactivity, until in 1877 D'Oyly Carte took over and produced Gilbert and Sullivan's The Sorcerer (1877), HMS Pinafore (1878), The Pirates of Penzance (1880), and Patience (1881), the last transferring to the Savoy Theatre later in the year. In 1884 the Opera Comique closed for redecoration, reopening in 1885, but with little success. For some years it was used for special performances and try-outs, being partly rebuilt in 1895, but at the end of 1899 it closed for good, being demolished in 1902.