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Theatre Royal, Wolverhampton

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Venue Type & Location

Theatre

Overview

  • Address: Junction of Cleveland Street and Garrick Street, Wolverhampton. Click Here for Map.

  • Capacity: An 1856 advertisement for the theatre in The Musical World indicates that it could accommodate “about 1,450, viz., 350 in boxes, 600 in pit, 500 in gallery” (142).

  • Audience Composition: According to both Ned Williams and Bev Parker, the wealthy citizens of Wolverhampton and the surrounding neighbourhoods supported the Theatre Royal following its opening. Soon enough, however, the theatre struggled to maintain an audience of any sort.

  • Performance Space Description: Images of the Theatre Royal suggest that it was a rather stately edifice in the neoclassical style. A grand, thrusting overhang, supported at the front by four ornate Ionic columns, dominated the two-storey building’s façade (see image at right, for example). At present, little has been found about the performance space itself (aside from the aforementioned breakdown of the seating).

  • Typical Fare: Parker suggests that, during the early years of its existence, entertainments at the Theatre Royal frequently consisted of “first class concerts”. Once Charles Dillon and Henry Widdicombe took over the management in 1847, though, the theatre began to focus on contemporary melodramas, along with the odd production of Shakespeare. Popular actors who appeared on the Theatre Royal’s stage during this time included G.V. Brooke, William Macready and Mr. & Mrs. Charles Kean, along with Dillon and Widdicombe themselves.

    • Performance History

  • The Theatre Royal was constructed (due to the inadequacies of Wolverhampton’s existing theatrical facility) in 1844-5. Funds (totaling about 3,000 pounds) were raised by subscription. The Theatre opened, with a performance of The Merchant of Venice, on Easter Monday, 1845.

  • Audiences dwindled throughout the mid-19th Century, however, and the theatre opened and closed on several occasions during the 1870s.

  • In 1894, the theatre was purchased and torn down by the company building the newer Grand Theatre. The Wolverhampton Central Library now stands on what was once the Theatre Royal site.

    Please see the 'Bibliographic Sources' link at right for a complete listing of materials (both primary and secondary) from which the above information was compiled.

    Beth Marquis

    • Troupes at Theatre Royal, Wolverhampton

    Film Affiliated people Film Type # of event(s)
    Benson, Wood Dramatic Definite Benson, Wood
    Ethiopian Serenaders (1848-49) Valintine, J.W. Minstrel Definite Ethiopian Serenaders (1848-49)
    Ethiopian Serenaders (1848-49) Briggs, T.F. Minstrel Definite Ethiopian Serenaders (1848-49)
    Ethiopian Serenaders (1848-49) Pell, Gilbert W. Minstrel Definite Ethiopian Serenaders (1848-49)
    Ethiopian Serenaders (1848-49) Ludlow, M.C. Minstrel Definite Ethiopian Serenaders (1848-49)
    Ethiopian Serenaders (1848-49) Juba, Minstrel Definite Ethiopian Serenaders (1848-49)
    Ethiopian Serenaders (1848-49) Irwin, J.H. Minstrel Definite Ethiopian Serenaders (1848-49)
    Ethiopian Serenaders (1848-49) Everton, J.H. Minstrel Definite Ethiopian Serenaders (1848-49)

    Events at Theatre Royal, Wolverhampton

    Event Date Venue Location Film
    Minstrel Show - Wolverhampton, Staffordshire Ethiopian Serenaders (1848-49)
    Minstrel Show - Wolverhampton, Staffordshire Ethiopian Serenaders (1848-49)
    Dramatic - Wolverhampton, Staffordshire Benson, Wood

    Bibliographic Sources

    View a list of abbreviations.

    • Birmingham Journal and Commercial Advertiser December 16, 1848: 1: 1.
      Info in Record:
      • venue description/décor/performance environment
    • Wolverhampton Chronicle December 22, 1848: 2: 1.
    • Musical World, The March 1, 1856: 142:1.