Private Theatres in England

Private Theatres in England. The vogue for private theatricals in English high society, which reached its peak from 1770 to 1790, resulted in the building of several private theatres. The first specially erected indoor private theatre which could vie with such Continental Court theatres as Česky Krumlov, Drottningholm, or Gripsholm was erected at Wargrave in 1789 for the Earl of Barrymore. Rectangular in shape, it held 400, and contained two tiers of boxes and two stage boxes unusually placed over the orchestra well. After ruining its owner, who also had a small puppet theatre in Savile Row, London, it was demolished in 1792. In 1793 the Lady Elizabeth Craven, Margravine of Anspach, built a theatre for the production of her own plays at Brandenburgh House, Hammersmith, which remained in use until 1804. It was in castellated style, and is said to have resembled the Bastille rather than a Temple of the Muses. An engraving of the interior shows a large central box and a parterre raised on a shallow platform after the Continental model.

A theatre in a simpler style was converted from a kitchen for Sir Watkins Williams Wynn at Wynnstay, and was used for annual performances from 1771 to 1789. Other private theatres were the Duke of Marlborough's at Blenheim Palace in Oxfordshire, converted from a greenhouse and in use from 1787 to 1789, and the Duke of Richmond's at Richmond House, London, constructed out of two rooms in 1787 to hold about 150. The wardrobe book of Wynnstay and the sale catalogue of Wargrave give ample evidence of the sumptuous décors provided for performances at these theatres, where professionals frequently acted with or coached the amateurs.

The Duke of Devonshire's private theatre at Chatsworth, Derbyshire, dating from about 1830, is the oldest still in existence. Another theatre of that period was at Burton Constable, in Yorkshire, which functioned from 1830 to 1850. Victorian private theatres include Charles Dickens's at Tavistock House, in London; a small one attached to Campden House in Kensington in the 1860s; one at Capethorne Hall, Cheshire, in use in 1870; the artist Herkomer's at Bushey, Hertfordshire; and the singer Patti's at 'Craig y Nos, Wales, still extant. In the 20th century Lord Bessborough gave annual productions for some years at his theatre at Stansted, Essex, and Lord Faringdon built a theatre, still in use, at Buscot Park, Berkshire. The late John Christie's opera house at Glyndebourne, Sussex, and Nicholas Sekers's theatre at Rosehill, Whitehaven, Cumbria, though founded by private individuals, both employ professional companies, are open to the general public, and charge for admission, and are thus not strictly to be classed as private theatres.