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The Duchess Theatre, Catherine Street, London, WC2

Above - The Duchess Theatre during the run of 'See How They Run' in October 2006.

The Duchess Theatre opened on the 25th of November 1929 with the play 'Tunnel Trench' by Hubert Griffith. The site the Theatre was built on was a WW1 Zeppelin-raid bomb site owned by Mabel Ainsworth until about 1927, and then latterly by Willy Clarkson, and had been vacant for many years due to the 'Ancient Lights' rule which prevented new buildings blocking the light of buildings close by.

The Theatre was designed by Ewen Barr who overcame the 'Ancient Lights' problem by designing his new Theatre with the upper storeys set back and the rest of the building low to the ground, much of it, including the stage and stalls, below ground level. The front of the circle is consequently at street level.

Left - The stage and Proscenium of the Duchess Theatre in the 1990s. - Photo M.L.

This design has proved problematic for the Theatre ever since as ground water has to be permanently pumped out of the basement by several dedicated pumps, rather like the bilge pumps on a boat.

Right - The Circle and Ceiling of the Duchess Theatre in the 1990s. - Photo M.L.

The Duchess Theatre was constructed by F. G. Minter Ltd. in a 'Modern Tudor Gothic' style and the auditorium was built on two different size levels, the Circle being narrower than the Stalls.

Left - The Stalls of the Duchess Theatre in the 1990s. - Photo M.L.

Right - The safety curtain at the Duchess Theatre in the 1990s. - Photo M.L.

This small playhouse has a capacity of only 479 and the sight-lines are excellent due to the Circle being suspended from the roof. The Theatre has concealed lighting throughout.

The Duchess has had far too many productions to name here but it is generally home to small touring shows or limited run seasons of plays and small musicals.

Left and Right - Two Views of the concealed lighting in the stalls and stairways of the Duchess Theatre in the 1990s. - Photo M.L.

The Duchess was eighty years old on the 25th of November 2009 and yet it still had its original iron curtain, grid, flies, and hardwood stage in place, and all still working well. The Theatre's lift has recently been put back into service too, with its original 1929 cabin, although it is now operated by modern machinery.

Above - The Duchess Theatre during the run of 'See How They Run'. This photo also shows the site of the former Gaiety Theatre, Aldwych at far centre, being prepared for the construction of an Hotel in October 2006 - Photo M.L.

Above - A photograph of the Duchess Theatre taken from the roof of the Theatre Royal Drury Lane, during the run of 'See How They Run' in October 2006 - Photo M.L.

London's West End Theatres

Adelphi Aldwych Ambassadors Apollo Apollo Victoria Arts Cambridge Criterion Dominion Drury Lane Duchess Duke Of Yorks Fortune Garrick Gielgud Harold Pinter Haymarket Her Majesty's London Coliseum London Palladium Lyceum Lyric New London Noel Coward / Albery Novello Old Vic Palace Peacock Phoenix Piccadilly Playhouse Prince Edward Prince of Wales Queen's Royal Opera House Savoy Shaftesbury St. Martin's Trafalgar Studios / Whitehall Vaudeville Victoria Palace Wyndham's