Shaftesbury Theatre (1888)

Coordinates: 51°30′45″N 0°07′48″W / 51.5125°N 0.1301°W / 51.5125; -0.1301
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(Redirected from
Original Shaftesbury Theatre
)

Shaftesbury Theatre
C. J. Phipps

The Shaftesbury Theatre was a

C. J. Phipps and built by Messrs. Patman and Fotheringham at a cost of £20,000 and opened with a production of As You Like It
on 20 October 1888.

The theatre had a stage of 28' 6" square. The capacity was 1,196.[1] It was located on the south side of Shaftesbury Avenue, just east of Gerrard Place.

History

The theatre's first big hit was

Oh! Oh! Delphine! (1913), The Pearl Girl and many others. In 1914 Basil Rathbone appeared at the Shaftesbury as the Dauphin in Shakespeare's Henry V.[citation needed
]

Courtneidge's successors from 1917 to 1921 were George Grossmith Jr. and Edward Laurillard. They produced a number of shows, including Arlette by Austen Hurgon and George Arthurs (1917); Baby Bunting by Fred Thompson and Worton David (1919); and The Great Lover, by Leo Ditrichstein, Frederic Hatton and Fanny Hatton (1920).[2]

In 1941 the theatre was so severely damaged by aerial bombardment that the lease was vacated, and in 1956 the site was appropriated by the London County Council for a proposed new fire station to replace the one next door. However it was to remain empty for over 40 years used only as a car park surrounded by advertising boards. The current Soho fire station was eventually built on the site in 1983.[citation needed]

References

  • Who's Who in the Theatre, edited by John Parker, tenth edition, revised, London, 1947, p. 1184.
  1. ^ But see "Shaftesbury Avenue and Charing Cross Road", Survey of London: Volumes 33 and 34, St Anne Soho: 296–312, 1966, retrieved 2 August 2010 which asserts that it was much larger.
  2. ^ "Shaftesbury Avenue and Charing Cross Road", Survey of London: Volumes 33 and 34, St Anne Soho: 296–312, 1966, retrieved 2 August 2010

External links