Theatre Royal, Drury Lane

Facts and information

Address:: Theatre Royal Drury Lane, Corner of Catherine Street and Drury Lane, Covent Garden,
London WC2B 5JF
England
Telephone:: Work +44 (0) 207 494 5060
Buses:: 1 6 8 9 11 13 15 19 23 25 38 55 59 68 87 91 98 139 168 172 177 189 243 253 521 RV1 X68
Trains:: Charing Cross BKL NRN, Covent Garden PCL, Embankment BKL CRC DSC NRN, Holborn CNT PCL, Leicester Square NRN PCL, Temple CRC DSC Note: The nearest train station to Theatre Royal Drury Lane is Covent Garden. We can help you find the best route from any other train station:
Train journey to Theatre Royal Drury Lane

^{Theatre Royal, Drury Lane}

Did you know… When Richard Baddeley died in 1794, he left some money in his will to provide a cake for all the actors and staff on Twelfth Night. It is a tradition that they still uphold today – two hundred years later.

Share: | More

> Got any questions? Or a review?

The Theatre Royal that we see today dates from 1812, and is the fourth theatre to be built on the site.

The first building was converted from an old cock-pit in the reign of James I, and rebuilt by Christopher Wren in 1660.

A century later the theatre had fallen into disrepair and Henry Holland was commissioned to replace it. His construction lasted all of fifteen years before the flames came calling. The dramatist Richard Sheridan is said to have retired to the shop next door whilst it burnt to the ground, calmly drinking port: Surely, he said, a man may take a glass of port by his own fireside.

The fourth and final theatre was built by Benjamin Wyatt in 1812.

Theatre Royal’s ghost

Theatre Royal is said to be haunted by a ghost that appears in the Circle during matinees. He dates from 1840, when a skeleton was discovered behind a wall with a knife in his ribs.

>> Write a review of Theatre Royal Drury Lane Read all reviews