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     London Theatre Tickets » List of London Theatres » Theatre Royal Stratford East » History
Theatre Royal Stratford East - Information & History
The Theatre Royal Stratford East is in Gerry Raffles Square in Stratford East London away from the bright lights of the Theatre West End but a surviving member of those late Victorian theatre builders.
The first Theatre Royal in Stratford was the brain child of the Actor Manager Charles Dillon, who engaged the Architect James George Buckle to design and build the first permanent building in Stratford dedicated to the performing arts. An application was made to Stratford Magistrates to license a local wheelwrights shop to become the home of the first theatre, but this was rejected as being improper. Also an application from the local Reverend, the Vicar of the local church, produced a petition to the council to oppose the application. In it he stated
"A theatre would not tend to the moral elevation of the people of the neighbourhood; that it would injuriously affect a respectable home for young ladies nearby; and that probably a low class of drama would be provided, so that it would become the resort of the lowest classes".
Despite such objections the local Magistrate eventually granted a licence to Charles Dillion on the grounds it was more appropriate to control a managed and licensed permanent theatre than one which operated outside the law and moved around.
The Theatre Royal first opened its doors on the 17th of December 1884 with a production by Lytton Strachey's 'Richelieu', in which Charles Dillion naturally played the lead role in his very own theatre. After several years Charles decided to sell the Theatre Royal to Albert O'Leary Fredericks who was a local coal merchant and businessman and had also been partly financing the theatre for some time. Maybe Charles got into financial difficulty or decided to move on to pastures green.
The Theatre Royal in Stratford remained in the Fredericks Family for half a century and one superstition surrounding the FF family crest above the stage said that if the crest was removed the theatre would crumble to the ground. In 1891 it was decided by the Fredericks family to extend the exiting small stage, which up till that point was only 18' in depth, and the purchase of the Fish mongers to the rear of the theatre enable the expansion and stage to be increased to its current depth of 38', which still makes it today one of the deepest stages in London.
Albert Fredericks died on the 26th of June 1901 during the same year that saw the death of Queen Victoria and the new Edwardian era begin. The theatre passed to Caroline Fredericks Ellis, his niece, and, along with her brothers, they continued to manage the theatre. It was during 1902 she applied for electricity to be connected to the theatre and the famous theatre Architect Frank Matcham was chosen to carry out a refurbishment at the same time, including new carpeting, new seating upholstery, and the addition of stage boxes. The theatre reopened with its all new electric lighting and redecoration that same year on 12th of May 1902.
The Theatre Royal Stratford continued to draw in the crowds with its series of Melodramas right through the First World War. After Caroline's death in 1919 her brothers continued with the management of the theatre until a fire August 1921, which caused the theatre to remain closed until the following year when it finally reopened in January 1922.
The theatre continued to retain support for its well loved productions, but the East of London was going through a particularly tough time through the depression and audience levels began to drop, so it reduced its prices in an attempt to lure more theatre goers. However, its main rival was the new talking movies craze that was sweeping across the nations capital. Seats for the cinema were cheaper than live performances and it was the curiosity and novelty value of actually seeing and hearing a talking and singing movie picture that lured away the audiences from the theatres. Combine this with the General Strike that hit Britain during 1926, the death of the Theatre Royal was sealed when it finally was forced to close its doors the same week the General Strike took place.
The remaining Fredericks family tried to reopen the theatre in 1932 with its' tried and tested Melodramas but death struck once more when the remaining Fredericks brother 'Fred' died. A succession of new managers tried and failed to keep the theatre afloat and it closed its doors during the mid thirties when the theatre company closed in 1933.
The theatre remained closed throughout the Second World War and it wasn't until 1946 when David Horne took over with his wife, they managed to keep the theatre royal Stratford open from 1946 to 1950. It was during this time that David Horne staged a production of 'Alice in Wonderland' as a Christmas show by a company called the Theatre Workshop. It was a blessing in disguise, as it was the Theatre Company's decision to manage the theatre in 1953 which made the Theatre Royal successful once more.
The management of the Theatre Royal by the Theatre Workshop was to herald a new path of fame and glory under the fantastic leadership and direction of Joan Littlewood and her Theatre Workshop company. The theatre was to stage new shows throughout the fifties including 'A Taste of Honey', 'Oh What a lovely War'. The tradition of sometimes controversial works led the way for British theatre to regains its' international confidence and helped maintain the Theatre Royal's survival through the eighties and nineties.
Joan Littlewood died in 2002 and her death brought tributes far and wide from actors, directors, playwrights and critics alike who recognised her influence on British theatre.
The Theatre today is managed under the artistic direction of Kerry Michael who took over from Philip Hedley, who was in charge from 1979 to 2004
The Theatre Royal was awarded funding from the Arts Council to support its' continuing policy of subsidised tickets to encourage more people to become theatre goers. It also won the Prudential award for the creation of new and exciting works and the development of new playwrights. The Theatre Royal was and still is a guiding light in the continuance of British theatre and is still drawing in the crowds in Stratford.
Theatre Royal Stratford East | Performances | Information | Directions | History
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