Theatre royal

Building first erected in 1663 at Drury Lane for Thomas Killigrew, the manager of the King's Company. Destroyed by a fire in 1672, rebuilt between 1672 and 1674.

• 1775: new façade by Robert Adam
• 1783: remodeled by Thomas Greenwood and William Capon
• 1791-1794: rebuilt by Henry Holland
• 1809: destroyed by a fire
• 1811-12: rebuilt by Benjamin Dean Wyatt
• 2013: refurbished in the style of 1812

The Theatre Royal became the first neo-classical theatre in London. The entrance was built with a five-bay frontispiece and above, the façade was decorated in the style of a temple front of attenuated Ionic pilasters. The ends of the pilasters were surmounted by masks of tragedy and comedy. In the centre of the pediment was a coat-of-arms. At the apex of the pediment were a lion on the left hand corner and a unicorn on the right hand corner facing towards the middle, which was decorated with a trophy derived from those of Marius on the Campidoglio in Rome (Stillman [page??]). The interior was decorated in a very elaborate style. The boxes were framed by small pilasters. The masterpiece was the ceiling, which was “painted in imitation of octagonal coffering in the circular shape of a dome, with corner filled by figural medallions with swags” (Stillman [page??]).

However, Adam was criticized for his extravagant fashion and the “glittering effect” of his remodeling, therefore, the Theatre Royal was modified again.

Sources:

• Stillman, Damie.English Neo-classical Architecture, 2vols. In Studies in Architecture. Ed. by Laing, Alastair and Harris, John. 26vols. London: Zwemmer, 1988.

• http://www.reallyusefultheatres.co.uk/theatres/theatre-royal-drury-lane/history/