To celebrate its 300th birthday this year, we wanted to share some highlights from its history, its fight to produce Shakespeare, and how its success in doing so led to its emergence as London’s third theatre royal. Shakespeare’s plays, his world, his lasting influence: Your support keeps the conversation going.

Explore our collection with #FolgerFinds. Owner says it is time to hand historic playhouse over to ‘next generation of dream-makers’, Last modified on Thu 26 Mar 2020 08.32 EDT. Then, in 1900, the standing pit was taken out to allow for new rows of seating. Suranne Jones will star in its upcoming production of Frozen, written by Bryony Lavery.

Writing in his diary on the night of February 3, 1851, Macready says, “Acted King Lear, certainly in a superior style to what I ever did before…My theatrical engagement is concluded. Designed by architect John Nash, the Theatre Royal Haymarket is Grade I listed building that opened on 4 July 1821 and seats 893 people over four levels. Sign up! Give to the Folger today. May 12, 2020 | By William Charles Macready was the “eminent tragedian” of his era, as newspapers of the day deemed him, and his performance of Shakespeare’s King Lear in 1851 came just before his farewell from the stage. In May 2004, horror struck when during a performance of When Harry Met Sally, the huge central chandelier in the auditorium broke away from its fitting in the ceiling above the heads of the audience in the stalls. Another performance of note offers a further glimpse into the Haymarket’s growth in status. This was the spark that created the position of Lord Chamberlain, when the government and monarchy decided that censorship was needed. “As custodian of the Theatre Royal Haymarket since 1981, it has been my life’s pride … it is now time to hand over the reins to the next generation of dream-makers.”. The First Haymarket Theatre or Little Theatre was built in 1720 by John Potter, carpenter, on the site of The King's Head Inn in the Haymarket and a shop in Suffolk Street kept by Isaac Bliburgh, a gunsmith, and known by the sign of the Cannon and Musket. Alexandra E. LaGrand. On June 30, 1843, Kean took the stage as the title character in Shakespeare’s Richard III.
Most West End theatres are owned by four chains: Delfont Mackintosh, the Really Useful Group, Nimax Theatres and the Ambassador Theatre Group. Filing history for THEATRE ROYAL HAYMARKET LIMITED (00242846) People for THEATRE ROYAL HAYMARKET LIMITED (00242846) Charges for THEATRE ROYAL HAYMARKET LIMITED (00242846) Filed Under: Charles Kean, William Macready. Photograph: Ian West/PA. Having his name on a playbill was huge for any theater because audiences would come specifically to see him. After Parliament passed the Licensing Act of 1737, these theaters officially had a legal joint monopoly over legitimate drama, or spoken-word serious drama. A history of Theatre Royal Haymarket and its struggle to break through London’s restrictions on Shakespeare May 12, 2020 | By Alexandra E. LaGrand Like this blog? It was the third public theatre opened in the West End. Theatre Royal Haymarket closest tube station The closest tube station to Theatre Royal Haymarket is Charing Cross Underground Station, Piccadilly Circus. The website is provided for informational purposes only and whilst every effort is made to ensure that the information on these pages is correct, we cannot be held responsible for any errors or omissions. Following Foote’s death in 1777, Haymarket theater managers had to continue to operate under special licenses renewed every summer to produce legitimate drama and Shakespeare. In an attempt to alleviate Foote’s suffering, the Duke managed to get him a lifetime patent for his theater to perform legitimate drama during the summer. This production of Richard III came just two months before the passing of the historic Theatres Regulation Act, which officially disbanded the patent theaters’ joint monopoly. Seating in Theatre Royal Haymarket The Theatre Royal Haymarket has a capacity of 893 over 4 levels: Stalls, Royal Circle, Upper Circle, and … It is the third oldest London playhouse still in use. http://haymarket.theatre-tickets.com/ is not affiliated nor endorsed by any production company or theatre venue. The theater showcased his name as one of the biggest items on the bill in order to capitalize on Kean’s celebrity. The booking process is provided by LondonBoxoffice.co.uk and booking fees may apply.

With this royal favor, they garnered reputations as national theaters, recruiting the highest level of talent in the country. Sorry, your blog cannot share posts by email.

In its report, the committee found that “In respect to the exclusive privileges claimed by the two Metropolitan Theatres of Drury Lane and Covent Garden, it appears manifest that such privileges have neither preserved the dignity of the Drama, nor…been of much advantage to the Proprietors of the Theatres themselves.” Because Covent Garden and Drury Lane were known as national theaters, their managers were responsible for consistently producing immense talent and spectacle, which came at a huge financial loss year after year. Three hundred years later, it continues to endure as a major force in London’s theatrical landscape. In 1832, Parliament formed the Select Committee on Dramatic Literature and tasked its members with investigating the laws governing legitimate drama. Images are the property of the copyright holders and are used with permission. From its beginnings in 1720, the Theatre Royal Haymarket fought to be recognized in the realm of London theaters by fighting for its right to perform Shakespeare. This caused a small riot, as the public thought it unfit for a theatre not to have a standing pit for the lower-class members of the population. By the mid-nineteenth century, the Haymarket had risen to be London’s third theatre royal. Shakespeare was a money-making staple of the stage, but because the Haymarket was unpatented, Shakespeare was off-limits there, so the years following the passing of the Licensing Act were turbulent and financially uncertain for the theater. It opened on 29 December 1720, with a French play La Fille a la Morte, ou le Badeaut de Paris performe… However, some large pieces of decorative plasterwork did fall and injured a few people. Jane Moody, writing in The Oxford Encyclopedia of Theatre and Performance, notes that in 1766, the theater reached a turning point when theater manager Samuel Foote suffered a horseback riding accident while with the Duke of York. Her research interests include Shakespearean theatre history and prompt book studies, while her current work explores Victorian actor-manager William Charles Macready and his relationship with, Strange Shakespeare: Macbeth and the even weirder sisters. Sign up for Shakespeare Plus, a newsletter from the Folger Shakespeare Library delivered to your inbox every other Wednesday. Post was not sent - check your email addresses! The theatre cost £1000 to build, with a further £500 expended on decorations, scenery and costumes. More than 30 UK theatres at risk of being lost. The theatre has been owned and run by three generations of the same family since the early 1970s, when the lease was acquired by Louis I Michaels and his partner Enid Chanelle. Strategically, the Haymarket hosted celebrity actors in the effort to build its name, including Charles Kean. In 2007, the Theatre Royal Haymarket Company was set up to stage its own productions and has since brought the likes of Waiting for Godot, starring Sir Ian McKellen and Sir Patrick Stewart, Terrence Rattigan’s Flare Path directed by Trevor Nunn and starring James Purefoy, Sheridan Smith and Sienna Miller and The Lion In Winter starring Robert Lindsay and Joanna Lumley.
The current building was completed in 1820 and the Corinthian-style entrance was designed so that the public could see the theatre from St James’ Square. Home to the world's largest Shakespeare collection.

The Haymarket’s fight to produce Shakespeare continued on. Luckily someone had the clever idea to attach safety chains to the hulking great chandelier and this stopped it from crashing down onto the unsuspecting audience below. A theatre has existed on this site at the Haymarket since 1720, the first being the Little Theatre in the Hay, eventually bestowed its royal patent in 1766. Meanwhile Foote, not done with his own theatrical career, launched into writing plays for one-legged roles, most notably ‘The Devil on Two Sticks’ and ‘The Lame Lover’ . One of the biggest theatre producers of the 1700s, Henry Fielding, presented productions at the theatre that attacked the royal family and both political parties of the time. My professional life may be said to be ended…I have attained the loftiest position in the art to which my destiny directed me…” Throughout Macready’s career, he held a love/hate relationship with the Haymarket, but his choice to have this final performance of his best-known role take place at the Haymarket demonstrates the theater’s rise in rank. With this special patent, Shakespeare’s plays could finally be performed on the Haymarket’s stage legally for the first time, and the theater then became the Theatre Royal Haymarket. At the time that the Haymarket was constructed in 1720, the Theatres Royal at Covent Garden and Drury Lane had already dominated theater in London for decades, having been granted royal patents in the 1660s. Want the best of the blog? The Censorship Act was instated in 1737 and was not repealed until 1968. Victorious at his achievement, Foote agreed and, having refurbished and enlarged the building, the theatre reopened in 1767 as the Theatre Royal Haymarket. The grade I-listed Theatre Royal Haymarket was designed by John Nash. Macready viewed this performance of King Lear as the culminating moment of his 58-year career, having acted better on the Haymarket stage than he ever had before. Then, in 1994, all the seats in the theatre were updated and the entire upper circle and balcony levels rebuild at a cost of £1.3m. During a time when performing Shakespeare in London was a legal right belonging only to certain theaters, the Haymarket theater’s rise to greatness is directly linked to its struggle to break through these restrictions. The Theatre Royal Haymarket, Haymarket, London Formerly - The Little Theatre in the Haymarket / Theatre Royal in the Haymarket / Haymarket Theatre

View Folger Shakespeare Library’s profile on Facebook, View FolgerLibrary’s profile on Instagram, View FolgerLibrary’s profile on Pinterest, View UCBOl-Rnudd-b0XJsmKDId-g’s profile on YouTube, Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window), Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window), Click to share on Pinterest (Opens in new window), Click to share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window), Click to share on Pocket (Opens in new window), Click to share on Reddit (Opens in new window), Click to share on Tumblr (Opens in new window), Click to email this to a friend (Opens in new window), is an MLitt student at Mary Baldwin University studying Shakespeare and Performance. The freehold is owned by the Crown Estate. Advancing knowledge and the arts. Today, the venue still houses excellent quality plays and musicals from all around the globe. Enter your email address to subscribe to this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.


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