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The Patagonian Theatre was created in a large room above the Exeter-Change, sometimes called the Exeter Exchange, which itself was built on the site of the old Burleigh House on the Strand in London.

Right - A cutting from the New Daily Advertiser from the 10th of November 1778 advertises a production of 'The Jovial Crew' and 'The Lunar Ambassador' at the Patagonian Theatre, Exeter Change - Courtesy BF.

The Theatre opened on Saturday the 26th of October 1776 and the Morning Chronicle reported on the building in their 28th of October 1776 edition saying: 'In consequence of the advertisments which have appeared for the last fortnight, announcing the opening of "The Beautiful PATAGONIAN Theatre from Dublin, in the Great Room over Exeter-'Change," we went to that Great Room, on Saturday evening, and were not a little surprised to find that the apparent Bull was in some measure justified on the grounds of truth and demonstration.

The great room over Exeter 'Change does really hold a theatre — we can't say a very beautiful one, but something so snug, neat, and trim, that we care not whether it was brought from Dublin its own self, or from any other part of the globe, resting contented with being enabled to declare that it is well adapted to the convenience of a small audience or spectatory.

The stage part being calculated for the exhibition of wooden puppets, is necessarily narrowed and curtailed of that "fair proportion" which the exhibition of living puppets indispensably requires. It is however as well of its kind as either of our larger theatres, and if we may judge at all from the first sample, it will as rarely call for animadversion.' The Morning Chronicle, 28th of October 1776 - Courtesy BF.

The Patagonian Theatre was mostly associated with puppet shows and with its small stage and an auditorium capable of seating around 200 people, it also put on small scale productions from various sources such as 'The Recruiting Sergeant' in 1777. The Theatre also produced the occasional Christmas Pantomime such as 'The Witches or Harlequin Sailor' in December 1776, and 'The Miller's Daughter; or Harlequine's Funeral' with music by Dibdin in December 1777.

Above - A report in the Morning Post & Daily Advertiser of the 24th of November 1777, on the Patagonian Theatre - Courtesy BF.

In Richard Daniel Altick's 'The shows of London' he writes on the Patagonian Theatre saying 'By Some time in the 1770s Exeter Change was taken over by a longtime tenant, a businessman named Thomas Clark who had expanded his stick shop to include cutlery and other hardware and a complete line of equipment for military and naval officers en route to their foreign stations. Eventually he accumulated a fortune of £300,000 and paid the then enormous sum of £7,000 a year in income tax; but never was he known to spend more than a shilling for dinner. Clark put the multipurpose hall to a new use, as a theatre for the popular one-man "entertainments" (songs and recitations) of the elder Charles Dibdin, the composer and dramatist. Subsequently, under Dibdin's management (1776- 1781) the hall was occupied by a puppet acting company, the Patagonian Theatre, which had originated in Dublin and during its long London run performed some forty plays, half of which, chiefly ballad operas, were adapted by Dibdin from the human theatre.'

The above text in quotes is an extract from 'The shows of London' by Richard Daniel Altick.

The Patagonian Theatre was closed by the 1790s and the Exeter Change was eventually demolished to make way for the building of the Exeter Hall, see below.

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The Exeter Hall

Above - An engraving of the Exeter Hall

The Exeter Hall was built between the years 1829 and 1831 on the site of the former Exeter Exchange. The hall was designed by John Peter Gandy who was the brother of the architect Joseph Michael Gandy. The Exeter Hall, which was primarily used for religious and philanthropic meetings, opened on March the 29th 1831 and consisted of two main rooms, the larger of which could accommodate over 4,000 and the smaller about 1,000. The Exeter Hall was also used as a Concert venue.

The Exeter Hall was eventually demolished in 1907 and the Strand Palace Hotel was built on the site.