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     Theatre Royal Haymarket - Information & History
The Theatre Royal Haymarket is situated on the Haymarket, an unusually wide street in SW1. The imposing Haymarket Theatre as we see it today first opened on the 4th of July 1821 with a production of Sheridan's 'The Rivals'.
The site was previously occupied by another theatre called the Little Theatre in the Haymarket. This theatre was later renamed the Theatre Royal in the Haymarket in 1766.
The Little Theatre was originally built by a carpenter called John Potter on land which previously had an old Inn called the Kings Head and a gun shop on it, but the theatre was not permitted to open due to the strict licensing laws of the 'Patent Theatre Rule'. So, it was used as a place for 'resting' actors and amateurs until Potter managed to get patronage and support from the Duke of Montague. He obtained the license and the Little Theatre on the Haymarket finally opened its doors to the public on the 29th of December 1720 with a French production Company with a performance of 'La Fille a la Mode, ou le Badlaud de Paris'. The French Company was sponsored by the Duke but this proved to be less than successful and the Little Theatre closed after only 5 months in May 1721.
During the 1720's the Little Theatre on the Haymarket offered an alternative to the licensed patent theatres, such as John Rich's Covent Garden Theatre and the opera-dominated Theatre Royal Drury Lane. Before the introduction of the Licensing Act of 1737, it was also an alternative to the pantomime and special-effects dominated stages. During an actor's revolt at the famous Theatre Royal Drury Lane, the actors walked out and went straight to the Little Theatre on the Haymarket. They only returned to the Theatre Royal Drury Lane when their demands were met.
John Potter was determined to see his Little Theatre on the Haymarket become part of the established theatre venues and with much determination he persevered and the theatre did have numerous successes, including productions of 'Tom Thumb' and 'The Supernatural'. But it was closed more often than open and Potter sought support where he could and offered the Theatre at low rental cost to any production company that seemed interested to stage their productions. Throughout this time the Little Theatre had been trading without an official patent licence, which went after the abortive opening with the Duke of Montague. The patent licence was necessary to open the theatre at the same time as the other patented theatres and it wasn't until 1766 when an actor Samuel Foote, who was then running the theatre, managed to obtain a patent licence via the Duke of York, which gave the theatre that seal of official approval it required. Foote decided to open the theatre during the summer when other patent theatres were usually closed, as during that time it was traditional for patent theatres only to be opened during the winter months and not throughout the year.
The manner in which this patent licence was granted is somewhat gruesome and was granted to Samuel Foote after he had injured his leg when persuaded to ride a horse on the stage by friends and guests of Lord Mexborough. Unfortunately this horse was not the passive kind and reared up and caused Samuel Foote to fall off and badly injure his leg. So much so, that afterwards he was forced to have the leg amputated and the patent was granted to him as a way of appeasing him by the Duke who had obviously been influenced by Lord Mexborough's friends' antics.
In 1777 George Coleman took over the theatre, continuing with Foote's Patent, and carried out refurbishments, adding more boxes and completely re-roofing the building to make it more water-tight. Coleman's son continued to run the theatre and, at last, it seemed that John Potter's dream had become a reality as the theatre gained popularity and managed to remain open more times than being closed. During the period of 1794 to 1803 the theatre was home to several actors who later became very famous, including John Liston, John Bannister and Charles Kemble, all of which trod the boards at the Royal Haymarket Theatre.
A second theatre was built slightly to the South of the first theatre, and the famous regency style Architect John Nash was commissioned to design and build the second theatre at a cost of £20,000. Nash was one of the period's Neo Classical Architects and was responsible for the redevelopment of the Marylebone region of London with its Quadrant, and Regents Park with its colonnaded terraces and local street town houses. Nash also remodelled Buckingham Palace and was one of the main initiators of bringing neo Classic Regency Style to London's West End. However, the interior proved to be less than popular as it wasn't as inspiring as the classical Nash Exterior which can still be seen today. The first theatre was converted into shops, then a restaurant and was finally demolished. The second theatre continued in a smaller capacity behind the imposing Neo Classical Façade of Nash's and the original interior was converted to a more pleasing style.
The Theatre Royal in the Haymarket entered a period of reasonable success from the 1820's with long running productions including 'Cherry Ripe', which ran for 114 performances. By 1843 after numerous successful productions it was claimed that the Royal Theatre on the Haymarket was virtually an equal of the long standing Mecca of all London's theatres, the Theatre Royal Drury Lane. The Little Theatre on the Haymarket changed its name to the Theatre Royal Haymarket in 1848.
The Interior of the Haymarket Theatre has seen numerous refurbishments, perhaps none more important than the introduction of Gas Lighting in 1843 to replace the dangerous candles, which had caused so many fires in other theatres.
In 1873 theatre goers were treated to an afternoon treat when it was decided to introduce afternoon matinees at the Haymarket, much to the annoyance of the Actors and stage crew, and started a precedence which still causes irritation to this day, but brings much joy to afternoon theatre goers who can't always get time in the evening to go to a show.
The Royal Haymarket changed ownership in 1879 when the Bankcroft family acquired the theatre and immediately commissioned some rebuilding with the help of renowned theatre architect C.J. Phipps. The works included a complete remodelling of the auditorium, the removal of the bench pit seats and the introduction of stall seating with iron separation arms, which did lead to much annoyance and argument from the paying public who couldn't shuffle up and cuddle like before. A new all painted Proscenium Arch was installed making it the very first 'picture framed' stage.
A new word entered the English dictionary when, during a production of 'Our American Cousin' starring Edward Southern, the word 'dreary' was introduced into every day use and was finally added to the official English dictionary in 1893.
The theatre saw the premiere of Oscar Wilde's comedies 'A Woman of No Importance' and 'An Ideal Husband. The same play returned for a 2003 production directed by Adrian Noble and starring Rupert Graves, Samantha Bond, Prunella Scales and Rachael Stirling.
The Royal Haymarket Theatre underwent a major refurbishment in 1994. In May 2004 it closed for two nights after portions of the ceiling fell down during a performance, with about 13 people suffering mainly cuts and bruises, during a performance of "When Harry Met Sally."
Recently the theatre has played host to a series of short run success stories, including the premiere of Victoria Wood's musical 'Acorn Antiques', based upon the comedy TV series, starring Julie Walters, Delia Imrie, Neil Morrisey, Duncan Preston, Sally Ann Triplett and Josie Lawrence. This was followed by a run of 8 weeks for a production of 'The Genius of Ray Charles' which ran to the 13th of August 2005. A production by Bill Kenwright 'A Few Good Men' played to full houses until the current production at the Royal Haymarket Theatre.
The Royal Haymarket underwent an extensive refurbishment in 1994 at a cost of £1.3 million when a vast amount of 24 karat pure gold leaf was used. In fact, 1,200 books containing sheets of pure gold leaf were used to adorn the auditorium. This refurbishment also included a completely new carpet, upholstery and hand block finished wallpaper, all the marble was thoroughly cleaned and polished, and air conditioning was installed. The Haymarket now has a seating capacity of only 900 on three levels.
The Royal Haymarket Time Line as extracted and amended from the official website http://www.trh.co.uk/history/
1720 - The Original First Theatre built by John Potter, a carpenter, on the site of the old King's Head Inn and the Gun Smith shop.
1737 - Under George II the Licensing Act came into effect, British citizens flooded the theatre to voice their grievance causing the riot act to be controlled by the British Grenadiers and the closure of the theatre.
1794 - Twenty people died and many were injured when a vast crowd pushed to see His Majesty who was attending an evening performance at the theatre.
1820/21 - The old Playhouse was closed and a new theatre was erected a little to the south. Designed by John Nash during the remodelling of Regents Park and Regent Street.
1853 - John Baldwin Buckstone becomes the new artistic guiding light of the Theatre Royal with over 200 successful productions. His life was the theatre and he is still a resident ghost haunting to this day.
1862 - A long run production of 400 nights of 'Our American Cousin' with Edward Southern as Lord Dundreary, adds a new word, 'dreary', to the English dictionary. The production makes John Buckstone over £30,000 profit.
1873 - A NEW CONCEPT for the first time for English theatre when Matinee performances were introduced starting at 2.00pm.
1879 - The Theatre was taken over by the Bancroft Family. The auditorium was refurbished to enclose the stage in the first complete picture frame proscenium arch. The removal of poor bench seats of the pit and the introduction of stalls seating separated by plain iron arms set a formidable precedent and caused a small amount of public annoyance.
1893 - Oscar Wilde premieres his comedy A Woman of No Importance, followed by An Ideal Husband.
1904 - The Theatre closed for rebuilding of the foundations front of curtain, designed by Stanley Peach.
1939 - Under Stuart Watson the stalls bar was excavated below ground level, but not completed until 1941 owing to the outbreak of the Second World War. John Gielgud produces a repertory season commencing with 'The Circle' and 'Love for Love', followed by 'Hamlet'.
1962 - John Gielgud directs the 'School for Scandal' with Ralph Richardson, Margaret Rutherford, Anna and Daniel Massey, and 'The Tulip Tree' with (N.C.Hunter) Celia Johnson, John Clemente and Lynn Redgrave.
1981 - Louis I Michaels, Impresario, dies. The Theatre is now owned by Louis I Michaels Ltd, headed by President, Enid Chanelle and Chairman, Arnold M Crook.
1994 - The theatre benefits from an investment of £1.3 million in major refurbishment work, which included the use of twelve hundred books (each containing 25 x 80mm square sheets) of twenty-four carat English gold leaf. Also done was an overhaul and reinforcement of stage roof trusses installed in 1821, art restoration to Joseph Harker's ceiling, cleaning of two thousand lead crystals in a central chandelier, a new carpet, new upholstery, hand blocked wallpapers, marble polishing and air conditioning was installed to bring a new lease of life to the auditorium and fresher air.
Time Extracts from official website http://www.trh.co.uk/history/
Showing: Sweet Charity
Friday 23rd April 2010 to Open ended run Theatre Royal Haymarket | Performances | Information | Directions | History
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