Theatre Royal, Haymarket

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Venue Type & Location

Theatre

Site Name: Theatre Royal, Haymarket
Location: London
County: London (city-county)
Location Type: Town - in town at determined location

Overview

  • Address: 7-8 Haymarket, opposite Her Majesty’s Theatre (east side). For a current map, Click Here. For historical maps showing the venue (in addition to those excerpted at right), Click Here, Here, and Here.


  • Alternate Names: Haymarket Theatre, Little Theatre in the Haymarket


  • Performance Space Description: Information about this venue has not yet been compiled; however, some sense of the performance space may be gleaned by following the links at right. In particular:


  • See the 'Bibliographic Sources' link for a provisional list of venue-relevant resources (both primary and secondary). Wherever possible (i.e. when the pertinent text is relatively short and/or easily condensed) this material has been transcribed, and appears beneath the appropriate bibliographic citation.


  • See the 'Events at venue' link for a listing of blackface/minstrelsy-related events that took place in this performance space (with attached bibliographic references).


    Beth Marquis

  • Events at Theatre Royal, Haymarket

    Event Date Venue Location Troupe
    Dramatic 15 March 1847 - 20 March 1847 London, London (city-county) Lantum Serenaders
    Dramatic 26 April 1847 - 1 May 1847 London, London (city-county) New Planet Troupe (London-Haymarket, 47)
    Dramatic 10 May 1847 - 15 May 1847 London, London (city-county) New Planet Troupe (London-Haymarket, 47)
    Dramatic 17 May 1847 - 22 May 1847 London, London (city-county) New Planet Troupe (London-Haymarket, 47)
    Variety 31 May 1847 - 5 June 1847 London, London (city-county) Ethiopian Serenaders (1846-48)
    Dramatic 22 November 1848 - 22 November 1848 London, London (city-county) Hudson
    Dramatic 26 February 1849 - 26 February 1849 London, London (city-county) Wallack, James
    Dramatic 28 February 1849 - 28 February 1849 London, London (city-county) Wallack, James
    Dramatic 12 March 1849 - 17 March 1849 London, London (city-county) Kean, Charles
    Dramatic 19 March 1849 - 23 March 1849 London, London (city-county) Kean, Charles
    Dramatic 9 May 1849 - 9 May 1849 London, London (city-county) Kean, Charles
    Dramatic 15 May 1849 - 15 May 1849 London, London (city-county) Kean, Charles
    Dramatic 15 October 1849 - 20 October 1849 London, London (city-county) Kean, Edmund
    Dramatic 19 November 1849 - 19 November 1849 London, London (city-county) Macready
    Dramatic 26 November 1849 - 26 November 1849 London, London (city-county) Wallack, James
    Dramatic 3 December 1849 - 3 December 1849 London, London (city-county) Wallack, James
    Dramatic 22 January 1851 - 22 January 1851 London, London (city-county) Macready
    Dramatic 27 January 1851 - 27 January 1851 London, London (city-county) Othello Troupe (London-Haymarket, 51)
    Dramatic 8 March 1851 - 8 March 1851 London, London (city-county) Wallack, James
    Dramatic 7 May 1851 - 7 May 1851 London, London (city-county) Wallack, James

    Bibliographic Sources

    • Arthur Lloyd Website. 05/22/2008 (http://www.arthurlloyd.co.uk/)
    • Black’s New Guide to London and its Environs. London: Adam and Charles Black, 1863.




      “THE HAYMARKET THEATRE, the name of which indicates its locality, was built from Nash's design, and opened in 1821. In a theatre which stood only a few feet distant from the site of the present one, the Beggar's Opera, that made Gay rich, and Rich gay, was produced in 1727. Foote afterwards became manager, and was succeeded by the Colmans. Mr Buckstone is lessee of the present house” (213).
    • Carthalia - Theatres on Postcards Website. 09/14/2008 (http://www.andreas-praefcke.de/carthalia/index.html)
    • Clarke, Henry Green. London in All Its Glory. London: H.G. Clarke & Co., 1851.




      “HAYMARKET THEATRE. Erected on the site of the little theatre in the Haymarket ,from the designs of John Nash, Esq., and opened for dramatic performances July 4th, 1821. The front presents an elevated portico supported by six columns of the Corinthian order, and above the pediment are nine circular windows, tastefully connected by sculptured ornaments. The interior is tastefully decorated and is remarkable for having the sides rectangular, and the centre very slightly curved, thus differing from any of the other theatres. The present lessee is Mr. B. Webster, under whose admirable management it has for several years been one of the most attractive theatres in the metropolis” (124-5).
    • Cunningham, P. Modern London; or, London as it is. London: John Murray, 1851.




      ”The HAYMARKET THEATRE (over against the Opera House in the HAYMARKET )was built by Nash, and publicly opened July 4th, 1821. It stands on a piece of ground immediately adjoining a former theatre of the same name, and is still distinguished in the play-bills as the ‘Little Theatre.’ The lessee is Mr. Benjamin Webster, who has done, and is still doing, more towards upholding the English Drama than any other person (Mr. Phelps not excepted) now connected with the stage” (177).
    • Davis, Jim & Victor Emeljanow. Reflecting the Audience. London Theatregoing, 1840-1880. Iowa City: University of Iowa Press, 2001.




      Cruchley’s Guide in 1841 singled out the theatre for its comedy (185-6).



      The authors also quote Arthur Munby’s description of meeting his mistress Hannah (a domestic servant) at the Haymarket in 1860: “to stand in the mob at the gallery door in the Haymarket, to sit in the gallery among the ‘rough’ by the side of a maid of all work, and drink with her out of the same bottle between the acts – is not this the very nadir of vulgarity and degradation?” (190)
    • Dictionary of Victorian London Online. 07/27/2008 (http://www.victorianlondon.org/)

      (Under Entertainment - Theatre & Shows - Theatres & Venues - Lyceum Theatre)

    • Howard, Diana. London Theatres and Music Halls 1850-1950. London: The Library Association, 1970.

      pp. 109-10.

    • Knight, Charles (ed). London Vol. 5 & 6. London: Henry G. Bohn, 1851.

      in London Theatres Chapter, pp273-288.

    • London and its Environs. Leipsic: Karl Baedeker, 1885.




      ”HAYMARKET THEATRE, at the S. end of the Haymarket. English comedy (Mr and Mrs Bancroft). […] This is now perhaps the finest theatre in London in the interior. The stage is enclosed by a massive gilt frame, the lower part of which conceals the orchestra” (38).
    • The London Stage 1800-1900 (University of Massachusetts). 03/23/2008 (http://www-unix.oit.umass.edu/~a0fs000/1800/1800.html)
    • London Theatre Direct Website. 09/04/2008 (http://www.londontheatredirect.com/information/seatingplans.htm)
    • London Theatre Guide Online. 09/27/2008 (http://www.londontheatre.co.uk/index.html)
    • London Theatres Website (Templeman Library, University of Kent at Canterbury). 05/22/2008 (http://library.kent.ac.uk/library/special/html/specoll/theindex.htm)
    • Moody, Jane. Illegitimate Theatre in London, 1770-1840. Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 2000.
    • Theatre Royal Haymarket Website. 09/27/2008 (http://www.trh.co.uk/)
    • Theatres in Victorian London Website. 05/22/2008 (http://www.victorianweb.org/mt/theaters/pva234.html)
    • Timbs, John. Curiosities of London (1855). London: David Bogue, 1855.

      p718.


      The information provided within this source is much the same as that given within the 1868 edition of the book.
    • Timbs, John. Curiosities of London (1868). London: Longmans, Green, Reader, and Dyer, 1868.




      “HAYMARKET THEATRE, the ‘Little Theatre,’ was originally built by one Potter, and opened Dec. 29, 1720 […] The ‘Little Theatre’ was taken down in 1820; the present theatre was built, at a few feet distant, with a lofty Corinthian portico, by Nash, and opened July 14, 1821: here was produced Paul Pry, with Liston, in 1825. In 1853, Mr. B. Webster concluded here a lesseeship of 16 years; the theatre was then let to Mr. Buckstone, who has rendered the Haymarket famous for its excellent performance of the legitimate drama; and this while one of our great national theatres was devoted to Italian opera” (784-5).


      Also gives the theatre’s capacity (in 1866) as 1500 (789)
    • "A Tour Among the Theatres". Metropolitan Magazine January, 1847: 25-33.
    • Walford, Edward. Old and New London Vol. 4 (1878). Reproduced at British History Online. 03/21/2008 (http://www.british-history.ac.uk/source.aspx?pubid=342)