The Royal Strand Theatre
Built - 1832
Enlarged - 1836
Demolished 1905 to make way
for the Aldwych Underground station.
For details of the more recent Strand Theatre on the Aldwych, now
the Novello Theatre, click here...
In
1831 Benjamin Lionel Rayner,
a celebrated Yorkshire comedian, acquired a building which from 1820
to 1828 had housed panoramas.
In seven weeks he transformed it into a theatre and opened it on 25
Jan. 1832, as Rayner's New
Subscription Theatre in the Strand.
It was decorated in white, gold, and silver, and, as it had no licence,
tickets were sold off the premises at 4s., 3s., and 2s. There was
no gallery. At this time the last battles between the unlicensed houses
and the Patent Theatres were being waged, and the opening attraction
at the new theatre was a skit on the situation, called Professionals
Puzzled; or, Struggles at Starting. There was also a special little
play for Mrs. Waylett, the star actress, and Rayner appeared in one
of his former successes, The Miller's Maid. A few weeks after the
opening Mrs. Waylett took sole charge, and in Nov. 1832 the theatre
closed down. It reopened in February of the following year, when Fanny
Kelly gave a monologue entertainment, and in October Wrench and Russell
tried drama there. But the Patent Theatres caused it to be closed.
In 1834 Mrs. Waylett tried
again, resorting to every expedient to evade the Patent Laws, such
as free admission on the purchase of an ounce of lozenges for 4s.
A real Red Indian chief and his squaw appeared, as did Mrs. Nisbett,
while the greatest success was Gilbert A Becket's burlesque of Manfred.
But in 1835 the theatre was
again closed at the behest of the Patent Houses. At last, in 1836,
it was put on the same footing as the Olympic
and the Adelphi, and on 1 May Douglas Jerrold
and James Hammond reopened it. The partnership did not last long,
but Hammond remained until 1839.
A gallery had been added to the theatre, holding 800 people at is.
6d. each. Dickens's novels in dramatic form were played there, notably
Pickwick Papers under the title of Sam Weller, and Nicholas Nickleby;
but the dramatic fare was always reinforced by extravaganza.
In
1841 a conjuror named Jacobs took
the theatre. The Keeleys starred there, and Mrs. Stirling appeared
in Aline. Fox Cooper took over in 1847,
followed by Oxberry and Edward Hooper in rapid succession. From 1848
to 1850 William Farren took command.
Under him Mrs. Stirling appeared in Adrienne Le couvreur and as Olivia
in The Vicar of Wakefield-Farren playing Dr. Primrose and Mrs. Glover
making her last stage appearance as Mrs. Primrose. William Copeland
of Liverpool was the next
tenant. He renamed the theatre Punch's Playhouse, but though he engaged
good actors he lasted only two seasons. After a varied career, during
which the theatre sank very low, W. H. Swanborough, in Feb. 1858,
started a scheme which seemed certain to fail. He starred his daughter
in H. J. Byron's burlesques, and success came their way. Fra Diavolo,
The Miller and His Men, The Lady of Lyons, were all popular and the
public flocked to see the Swanborough shows, with a cast that also
included James Thorne, Edward Terry, Miss Raynham, Mrs. Raymond, and
Marie Wilton (afterwards Lady Bancroft). The last of the Swanborough
burlesques was given in 1872. In 1882
the theatre was condemned, rebuilt, and reopened. A period of failure
followed, with Vice Versa as the only bright spot. Swanborough died,
and J. S. Clarke became lessee, with a notable season of old English
comedies. In the early nineties Willie Edouin took the theatre, and
with Our Flat scored a run of 600 nights. Later Niobe, with Beatrice
Lamb and Harry Paulton in the leading roles, ran for several hundred
performances, and it became the fashion for wedding-parties to visit
this play-why, no one ever knew. A period of farce followed, and then
came the record-breaking musical comedy, The Chinese Honeymoon, which
ran for 1,075 performances. The theatre was demolished in 1905,
and its site is now covered by the Aldwych Underground station.
Text from The Oxford Companion to the Theatre (second edition
1957)
For details of the more recent Strand Theatre on the Aldwych, now
the Novello Theatre, click here...
London Underground
Ghosts
Aldwych Station
This
station was closed in 1994 (not because of ghosts) although it is
still currently used for parties and trendy opening nights. However,
the 'fluffers', people who clean the tunnels and stations, claim to
have been scared by a figure who appears on the tracks at night. The
ghost is that of an actress who believes she has not enjoyed her last
curtain call, supposedly haunts the station. Aldywch used to be on
the site of the old Royal Strand Theatre.
From H2G2 www.bbc.co.uk
Above and above Right - In 2002, the disused Strand Underground
station, formerly Aldwych Station, site of the Royal Strand Theatre.
For a fascinating tour of the deserted Aldwych Underground station
and the rest of the London underground see here...
For details of the more recent Strand Theatre on the
Aldwych, now the Novello Theatre, click here...
