First Theatre Royal Opens in London
The Theatre Royal Drury Lane, which opened on May 7, 1663, is recognized as the oldest functioning theater in England. Its establishment followed the English Civil War, during which public theaters were shut down by the Puritan government. With the restoration of Charles II, the king quickly reopened theaters and granted a royal charter to Thomas Killigrew for the construction of the Drury Lane Theatre. The theater marked the beginning of the Restoration drama era, featuring a variety of new plays characterized by wit and humor, along with the notable presence of women on stage for the first time. Over the centuries, the theater has undergone several reconstructions due to fires, with the current building completed in 1812. It has hosted a diverse range of performances, including operas, pantomimes, and musical comedies. The Theatre Royal Drury Lane also has a reputation for being haunted, adding a layer of intrigue to its rich theatrical history, with famous actors and playwrights having contributed to its legacy.
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First Theatre Royal Opens in London
First Theatre Royal Opens in London
The Theatre Royal Drury Lane, called the Drury Lane Theatre for short, opened on May 7, 1663. It derives its name from its royal charter and its position on London's Drury Lane. It is the oldest functioning theater in England, with a history that goes back to the revival of drama after the English Civil War.
When the Stuart dynasty, in the person of Charles II, returned to power in England, there were no public theaters left in London—they had all been shut down by the puritanical government of Oliver Cromwell, which regarded secular entertainments as immoral. Charles II wasted no time in reopening the playhouses, though he was careful to keep them under royal control. He granted the cavalier dramatist Thomas Killigrew a royal charter for the construction of a new theater for use by Killigrew's company, who were known as the King's Men, and Killigrew built the Theatre Royal at Drury Lane. The first play shown was an old one, The Humorous Lieutenant, by John Fletcher, who had been a younger contemporary of Shakespeare's, but soon new playwrights were writing new types of plays. Restoration drama (so called because it developed after the Restoration of the Stuart monarchy) was characterized by frivolous, witty, and licentious comedies and heroic tragedies, which were extremely popular. Works by John Dryden, William Congreve, William Wycherley, and the like drew noisy, fashionable audiences, and for the first time women appeared on stage, in parts that had previously been played by teenage boys. One of the actresses at the Drury Lane was the king's mistress, Nell Gwyn, who excelled at light comedy.
The old, arena-like theaters of the 16th century had been open at the top and had relied on the Sun to illuminate the stage, but the Drury Lane Theatre had a full roof so that it could be used in all weathers and in the evenings too. The theater utilized a French-style proscenium stage with painted scenery, and batteries of candles for stage and house lights. To no one's great surprise, Killigrew's theatre burned down in 1672; the architect Sir Christopher Wren designed a more impressive (and apparently safer) replacement.
The Drury Lane Theatre enjoyed a heyday between 1746 and 1776, when the actor David Garrick served as its manager. Garrick loved Shakespeare and staged memorable revivals of his plays, with better texts and a more natural style of acting. The dramatist Richard Brinsley Sheridan succeeded Garrick for a time and continued the Shakespeare productions, alternating with comedies like his own School for Scandal.
Wren's building was torn down in 1791 to make way for a larger house, but although the new theater was supposed to be fireproof, it burned to the ground in 1809. The present Drury Lane Theatre was completed in 1812, under the architect Benjamin Dean Wyatt. Because of its size, it has sometimes been used for operas and pantomimes; musical comedies are more likely today.
Drury Lane is said to be haunted: in 1840 some workmen doing repairs discovered a skeleton bricked up inside a hollow wall, with a dagger still stuck in its ribcage. Some think this may explain at least one of the theater's resident ghosts, of whom the best known is a spectral 18th-century gentleman nicknamed the Man in Grey. For theater lovers, however, the Drury Lane is haunted by the legions of famous actors, actresses, and playwrights who have contributed to its long history.