Theatre Royal Haymarket

Theatre Royal Haymarket London

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18 Suffolk Street
Haymarket
London, SW1Y 4HT

	The Theatre Royal Haymarket offers a choice of 5 bars and a full range of confectionery. Bars open 30 minutes prior to each performance. “To make your evening exceptional try the Oscar Wilde Room, with a private entrance to the most sumptuous theatre in the West End, you can access our beautifully restored Oscar Wilde Room 45 minutes prior to the start of the performance. There is a free open bar where a selection of drinks, including champagne, are served by your attendant, along with a selection of gourmet sandwiches. You will also be given a complimentary copy of the brochure for Acorn Antiques and taken to your seats 5 minutes before the performance begins.”
	Guide dogs are allowed in box. Staff will dog-sit. Accessible to a wheelchair user with assistance. Disabled Access. Induction Loop or Infra-red sound amplification.
	MasterPark Whitcomb Street, NCP Denman Street and Leicester Place are the closest public car parks to The Theatre Royal, Haymarket.
	London Bus Routes: 14, 19, 22, 24, 29, 38, 40, 176.
	London Charing Cross for the closest British rail station to Theatre Royal Haymarket.
	Charing Cross/Piccadilly Circus
HISTORY	Theatre Royal Haymarket   1720 - Built by John Potter, a carpenter, on the site of the King's Head and the Gun Smith shop. 1729 - Hurlothrumbo ran 30 nights. The theatre's first major success 1730’s During the 1730's Henry Fielding produced a number of satires attacking both political parties and the Royal Family which so incensed the government of the day that censorship of plays by the Lord Chamberlain was introduced in 1737 - the act was not repealed until September 1968. 1737 - Under George II the Licensing Act came into effect, British citizens flooded the theatre to voice their grievance causing the riot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 enforced by the British Grenadiers and the subsequent 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. 1820/21 - The old Playhouse was closed and a new theatre was erected a little to the south, gaining a vista from St. James Square. Designed by Court Architect John Nash during the remodelling of Regents Park and Regent Street. 1853 - John Baldwin Buckstone becomes the new light of the Theatre Royal with 200 successful productions. His life was the theatre and he is still a resident haunting staff to this day. 1862 - 400 nights of Our American Cousin with Edward Southern as Lord Dundreary, adds a new word, 'dreary' to the dictionary. John Buckstone clears over 30,000 pounds profit.

HISTORY

1873 - A NEW CONCEPT: Matinees or morning performances were introduced starting at 2.00pm. 1879 - The house was taken over by the Bancrofts. The auditorium reconstruction enclosed the stage in the first complete picture frame proscenium. The abolition of the pit by the introduction of stalls seating divided by plain iron arms set a formidable precedent and caused a small riot. 1881 Lily Langtry made her debut. 1893 - Oscar Wilde premieres his first 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, not completed until 1941 owing to war. John Gielgud produces a repertory season commencing with The Circle and Love for Love, followed by Hamlet. 1962 - John Gielgud directs School for Scandal with Ralph Richardson, Margaret Rutherford, Anna and Daniel Massey. And The Tulip Tree with (N.C.Hunter) Celia Johnson, John Clemente, 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 - 1.3 million pounds are invested in major refurbishment work consuming twelve hundred books (each containing 25 x 80mm square sheets) of twenty-four carat English gold leaf. Overhaul and reinforcement of stage roof trusses installed in 1821. Art restoration to Joseph Harker's ceiling and cleaning of two thousand lead crystals in a central chandelier. Fresh carpet, new upholstery, hand blocked wallpapers, marble polishing and air conditioning.   Oscar Wilde's An Ideal Husband and A Woman Of No Importance both premiered here. The theatre has a reputation for presenting good serious plays - and the list of actors and actresses who have appeared here over the years reads like a who's who of the British acting establishment.     “Welcome to the Theatre Royal Haymarket - probably the world's most beautiful theatre. We have been staging the country's finest productions and playing host to generations of its most illustrious actors for nearly three hundred years. When you come, look out for Buckstone, a friend of Charles Dickens and manager of the Haymarket from 1853-1879, whose ghost is still seen in the auditorium and dressing rooms, keeping an eye on his beloved Haymarket.”

  Theatre Royal, Haymarket – Seating Plan

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