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     London Theatre Tickets » List of London Theatres » Comedy Theatre » History
Comedy Theatre - Information & History
The Comedy Theatre is situated on Panton Street just off the Haymarket in London's West End. Originally called the Royal Comedy Theatre, it was designed and built by the Victorian architect and developer Thomas Verity and was constructed in only 6 months!!! The Comedy Theatre opened its doors in October 1881 with a comedy opera entitled 'The Mascotte'. The Comedy Theatre, as its name intended, was to stage comic opera. This only lasted for several years until the Comedy Theatre had to stage 'legit' drama productions, which were interspersed with musical comedies.
The reason for the Royal title was rather pretentious and the idea of its owner and not because the then Prince and Princess of Wales attended its opening performance. But In less than 3 years the Theatre dropped its Royal name and simply became the Comedy Theatre, which was probably a wise move as it had no right to call itself 'royal' as it had not received a royal warrant permission to do so. Perhaps its owner was expecting more in notable acclaim than the theatre was due. The original seating capacity of the Comedy Theatre was 1180 spread across 4 tiers, but the removal of the pit benches to flip up seats has reduced the seating capacity to 800.
The Comedy Theatre is one of only 3 theatres that date before 1890 that are still in use and its Auditorium is still relatively unchanged since its opening in 1881. The Comedy Theatre shares this heritage with The Royal Opera House and the Criterion Theatre. It was intended by the designer Thomas Verity that the Comedy Theatre would be lit by the latest invention 'Electric Light', but for some reason, which may have been technical difficulties, the Comedy Theatre ended up with good old fashioned Gas Lighting, which was the main stay of building lighting. The first theatre that opened with the new fangled Electric building lighting was in fact the Savoy Theatre only 5 days earlier.
A notable success in its early years was 'Monsieur Beaucaire' in 1902 which enjoyed a run of 402 performances. Marie Tempest actually made her stage debut at the Comedy Theatre in 1895 in 'Boccaccio' as did John Barrymore in the Dictator in 1905.
One claim to fame that the Comedy Theatre can hold must be the demise of the censorship of stage performances, which was the prerogative of the Lord Chamberlain right up to 1968, when he could apply censorship by edit or a total ban of any stage performance broadcast to an audience. The Comedy Theatre was labelled the 'theatre that overturned stage censorship', largely due to its staged productions during the 50's in post war Britain which were truly pushing boundaries of what was then considered to be inappropriate or censorship material. This manifested itself in a series of private members 'Theatre Clubs' which could legally present plays without being censored. One of the most notable being The New Watergate Club, which was formed in 1956 and, based on the Comedy Theatre, members paid five shillings [25p] for nominal membership, allowing a lapse of 48 hours, then they could buy tickets to watch formerly banned performances at such private theatre clubs. Under similar club conditions The Comedy Theatre over the latter half of the 50's staged banned performances of Robert Andersons 'Tea & Sympathy', Tennessee Williams 'Cat on a Hot Tin Roof' and Arthur Millers 'A View from The Bridge' to name only a few.
The general relaxation and change of attitude which was sweeping across Britain following the War and the desire for more freedom of public liability led to more creative and less restrictive censorship practices. This eventually gave way to the performances and acceptance of stage productions which would have previously been unheard of, notably Peter Shaffer's 'Five Finger Exercise', which eventually ran for 2 years at the Comedy Theatre. It wasn't until 1968 during the height of the swinging sixties that the law was finally changed.
The Comedy theatre underwent numerous refurbishments over its long career. The most noteworthy was in 1950 when an extension was built behind the theatre to provide new dressing rooms and a new stage door. However, the general design and interiors have remained true to its late Victorian beginnings.
The ornamentation of the interior does capture the quality of its designer and architect with its Renaissance style richly moulded architraves and is finished in white and regal gold to add a touch of panache and quality splendour. The rich maroon red fabrics and draperies elegantly sculpture the Royal Box with its elegant retiring room attached. The Comedy Theatre is a splendour to enjoy and feels like walking back in time to a more sedate lifestyle. The entrance in Oxendon street is particularly interesting.
The Comedy Theatre has been at the forefront of avant-garde and experimental works, as well as revivals and musical classics, and has been notable for staging a number of Harold Pinter Plays over the years.
Showing: Death and the Maiden
Thursday 13th October 2011 to Saturday 21st January 2012 Comedy Theatre | Performances | Information | Directions | History
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