Surrey Theatre
Encyclopedia
The Surrey Theatre began life in 1782 as the Royal Circus and Equestrian Philharmonic Academy, one of the many circuses that provided contemporary London entertainment of both horsemanship and drama. It stood in Blackfriars Road
, near the junction with Westminster Bridge Road
, in the London Borough of Lambeth
, which was then an entertainment district.
(who coined the word "circus"), aided by Charles Hughes, a well-known equestrian performer. The entertainments were at first performed by children with the goal of its being a nursery for young actors. Delphini, a celebrated buffo, became manager in 1788 and produced a spectacle including a real stag-hunt. Other animal acts followed, including the popular dog act Gelert and Victor, lecture pieces, pantomime
s and local spectacles. The popular comedian John Palmer then managed the theatre until 1789, when he was committed to Horsemonger Lane Gaol
as "a rogue and a vagabond".
It continued in use until 1810, although it had a troubled existence, being burnt down in 1799 and again on 12 August 1805. Rebuilt in 1806 by the Italian architect of the Old Vic
, Rudolph Cabanel, it was converted into a theatre by Robert Elliston
. He renamed it the Surrey Theatre, being determined to perform Shakespeare and other plays. He reopened on Easter Monday
and to avoid trouble with the law, which did not allow dialogue to be spoken without musical accompaniment except at the two patent theatre
s, he put a ballet into every such production, including Macbeth
, Hamlet
, and Farquhar
's The Beaux' Stratagem
. Contemporary reviewers noted that the Lambeth streets teemed with prostitutes.
Elliston left in 1814, and the Surrey became a circus again until Thomas Dibdin
reopened it as a theatre in 1816. The arena where the equestrian exercises had been displayed was converted into a large pit for spectators, and the stables became saloons. Fanny Fitzwilliam
and Sally Brook starred in melodrama
s, but the theatre had little success overall. John Baldwin Buckstone
made his first London appearance at the theatre, on 30 January 1823, as Ramsay in The Fortunes of Nigel
. George Holland
also appeared at the theatre, in 1826.
When Elliston returned in 1827, the theatre's fortunes changed., In 1829, Douglas Jerrold
's melodrama Black-Eyed Susan, with T. P. Cooke as William, the nautical hero, ran for over 300 nights, which was extraordinarily successful for the time. Elliston made his last appearance at this theatre on 24 June 1831, twelve days before he died. Osbaldiston then took over and, among other plays, produced Edward Fitzball
's Jonathan Bradford; or, the Murder at the Roadside Inn, which ran for 260 nights. Productions of Dickens dramas, among others, followed. Ira Aldridge
, the first successful black actor, appeared here in the 1840s. C. Z. Barnett's adaptation, A Christmas Carol; or, The Miser's Warning played in 1844. Richard Shepherd, who succeeded Alfred Bunn
in 1848, remained at the theatre until 1869 and established its reputation for 'rough-and-tumble' transpontine melodrama.
On 29 January 1865, during the last scene of the pantomime
Richard Coeur de Lion, a fire began above the chandelier
. The audience evacuated safely, but before the cast could leave the entire theatre was plunged into darkness, as the gas supervisor cut the gas supply to prevent an explosion. Panic ensued backstage, but the cast were led to safety through the burning scenery by the efforts of Green (acting manager), Rowella (the 'clown'), Evans (the 'pantaloon'), Vivian (the 'sprite') and others. The cast, still in their flimsy stage clothes, were conveyed to their lodgings in a fleet of cabs, provided by the police. In less than ten minutes the interior was ablaze, and the theatre was burnt down shortly after midnight.
A new theatre, designed by John Ellis, seating 2,161 people in four tiers, opened on 26 December 1865. Little of note took place until 1881, when George Conquest took over, staging sensational dramas, many of them written by himself, which proved extremely popular, and each Christmas a pantomime
.
The Surrey flourished until his death in 1901. The theatre was remodelled by Kirk and Kirk, as a music hall
, but did not prosper, becoming a cinema in 1920. It finally closed in 1924, and the building was demolished in 1934. The site is now occupied by modern flats.
Blackfriars Road
Blackfriars Road is a road in Southwark, SE1. It runs between St George's Circus at the southern end and Blackfriars Bridge over the River Thames at the northern end, leading to the City of London. Halfway up on the west side is Southwark tube station, on the corner with The Cut...
, near the junction with Westminster Bridge Road
Westminster Bridge Road
Westminster Bridge Road is a short, but busy, road in London, England. It runs on an east-west axis and passes through the boroughs of Lambeth and Southwark....
, in the London Borough of Lambeth
London Borough of Lambeth
The London Borough of Lambeth is a London borough in south London, England and forms part of Inner London. The local authority is Lambeth London Borough Council.-Origins:...
, which was then an entertainment district.
History
The Royal Circus was opened on 4 November 1782 by the composer and song writer, Charles DibdinCharles Dibdin
Charles Dibdin was a British musician, dramatist, novelist, actor and songwriter. The son of a parish clerk, he was born in Southampton on or before 4 March 1745, and was the youngest of a family of 18....
(who coined the word "circus"), aided by Charles Hughes, a well-known equestrian performer. The entertainments were at first performed by children with the goal of its being a nursery for young actors. Delphini, a celebrated buffo, became manager in 1788 and produced a spectacle including a real stag-hunt. Other animal acts followed, including the popular dog act Gelert and Victor, lecture pieces, pantomime
Pantomime
Pantomime — not to be confused with a mime artist, a theatrical performer of mime—is a musical-comedy theatrical production traditionally found in the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, Canada, Jamaica, South Africa, India, Ireland, Gibraltar and Malta, and is mostly performed during the...
s and local spectacles. The popular comedian John Palmer then managed the theatre until 1789, when he was committed to Horsemonger Lane Gaol
Horsemonger Lane Gaol
Horsemonger Lane Gaol was a prison close to present-day Newington Causeway in Southwark, south London.-History:...
as "a rogue and a vagabond".
It continued in use until 1810, although it had a troubled existence, being burnt down in 1799 and again on 12 August 1805. Rebuilt in 1806 by the Italian architect of the Old Vic
Old Vic
The Old Vic is a theatre located just south-east of Waterloo Station in London on the corner of The Cut and Waterloo Road. Established in 1818 as the Royal Coburg Theatre, it was taken over by Emma Cons in 1880 when it was known formally as the Royal Victoria Hall. In 1898, a niece of Cons, Lilian...
, Rudolph Cabanel, it was converted into a theatre by Robert Elliston
Robert William Elliston
Robert William Elliston was an English actor and theatre manager.He was born in London, the son of a watchmaker. He was educated at St Paul's School, but ran away from home and made his first appearance on the stage as Tressel in Richard III at Bath in 1791...
. He renamed it the Surrey Theatre, being determined to perform Shakespeare and other plays. He reopened on Easter Monday
Easter Monday
Easter Monday is the day after Easter Sunday and is celebrated as a holiday in some largely Christian cultures, especially Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox cultures...
and to avoid trouble with the law, which did not allow dialogue to be spoken without musical accompaniment except at the two patent theatre
Patent theatre
The patent theatres were the theatres that were licensed to perform "spoken drama" after the English Restoration of Charles II in 1660. Other theatres were prohibited from performing such "serious" drama, but were permitted to show comedy, pantomime or melodrama...
s, he put a ballet into every such production, including Macbeth
Macbeth
The Tragedy of Macbeth is a play by William Shakespeare about a regicide and its aftermath. It is Shakespeare's shortest tragedy and is believed to have been written sometime between 1603 and 1607...
, Hamlet
Hamlet
The Tragical History of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark, or more simply Hamlet, is a tragedy by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written between 1599 and 1601...
, and Farquhar
George Farquhar
George Farquhar was an Irish dramatist. He is noted for his contributions to late Restoration comedy, particularly for his plays The Recruiting Officer and The Beaux' Stratagem .-Early life:...
's The Beaux' Stratagem
The Beaux' Stratagem
The Beaux' Stratagem is a comedy by George Farquhar, first produced at the Haymarket Theatre, London, in March 1707. In the play, Archer and Aimwell, two young gentlemen who have fallen on hard times, plan to travel through small towns, entrap young heiresses, steal their money and move on. In the...
. Contemporary reviewers noted that the Lambeth streets teemed with prostitutes.
Elliston left in 1814, and the Surrey became a circus again until Thomas Dibdin
Thomas John Dibdin
Thomas John Dibdin was an English dramatist and song-writer.Dibdin was the son of Charles Dibdin, a song-writer and theatre manager, and of Mrs Davenet, an actress whose real name was Harriet Pitt. He was apprenticed to his maternal uncle, a London upholsterer, and later to William Rawlins,...
reopened it as a theatre in 1816. The arena where the equestrian exercises had been displayed was converted into a large pit for spectators, and the stables became saloons. Fanny Fitzwilliam
Fanny Fitzwilliam
Frances "Fanny" Elizabeth Fitzwilliam was the actress daughter of Robert Copeland, manager of the Dover theatrical circuit....
and Sally Brook starred in melodrama
Melodrama
The term melodrama refers to a dramatic work that exaggerates plot and characters in order to appeal to the emotions. It may also refer to the genre which includes such works, or to language, behavior, or events which resemble them...
s, but the theatre had little success overall. John Baldwin Buckstone
John Baldwin Buckstone
John Baldwin Buckstone was an English actor, playwright and comedian who wrote 150 plays, the first of which was produced in 1826....
made his first London appearance at the theatre, on 30 January 1823, as Ramsay in The Fortunes of Nigel
The Fortunes of Nigel
The Fortunes of Nigel is a novel written by Sir Walter Scott. The setting is some time between 1616 and 1625.- Plot introduction :...
. George Holland
George Holland
George Holland was an English American stage actor, born in London, December 6, 1791. His father was a tradesman. The boy was first sent to preparatory schools in Lambeth, and afterward to a boarding-school. He did not prove a devoted student: he was more remarkable for his pranks than for his...
also appeared at the theatre, in 1826.
When Elliston returned in 1827, the theatre's fortunes changed., In 1829, Douglas Jerrold
Douglas William Jerrold
Douglas William Jerrold was an English dramatist and writer.-Biography:Jerrold was born in London. His father, Samuel Jerrold, was an actor and lessee of the little theatre of Wilsby near Cranbrook in Kent. In 1807 Douglass moved to Sheerness, where he spent his childhood...
's melodrama Black-Eyed Susan, with T. P. Cooke as William, the nautical hero, ran for over 300 nights, which was extraordinarily successful for the time. Elliston made his last appearance at this theatre on 24 June 1831, twelve days before he died. Osbaldiston then took over and, among other plays, produced Edward Fitzball
Edward Fitzball
Edward Fitzball was a popular English playwright, who specialised in melodrama. His real surname was Ball, and he was born at Burwell, Cambridgeshire.Fitzball was educated in Newmarket, was apprenticed to a Norwich printer in 1809...
's Jonathan Bradford; or, the Murder at the Roadside Inn, which ran for 260 nights. Productions of Dickens dramas, among others, followed. Ira Aldridge
Ira Aldridge
Ira Frederick Aldridge , was an American stage actor who made his career largely on the London stage and in Europe, especially in Shakespearean roles...
, the first successful black actor, appeared here in the 1840s. C. Z. Barnett's adaptation, A Christmas Carol; or, The Miser's Warning played in 1844. Richard Shepherd, who succeeded Alfred Bunn
Alfred Bunn
Alfred Bunn was an English theatrical manager.He was appointed stage-manager of Drury Lane Theatre, London, in 1823. In 1826 he was managing the Theatre Royal in Birmingham, and in 1833 he undertook the joint management of Drury Lane and Covent Garden, London. In this undertaking he met with...
in 1848, remained at the theatre until 1869 and established its reputation for 'rough-and-tumble' transpontine melodrama.
On 29 January 1865, during the last scene of the pantomime
Pantomime
Pantomime — not to be confused with a mime artist, a theatrical performer of mime—is a musical-comedy theatrical production traditionally found in the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, Canada, Jamaica, South Africa, India, Ireland, Gibraltar and Malta, and is mostly performed during the...
Richard Coeur de Lion, a fire began above the chandelier
Chandelier
A chandelier is a branched decorative ceiling-mounted light fixture with two or more arms bearing lights. Chandeliers are often ornate, containing dozens of lamps and complex arrays of glass or crystal prisms to illuminate a room with refracted light...
. The audience evacuated safely, but before the cast could leave the entire theatre was plunged into darkness, as the gas supervisor cut the gas supply to prevent an explosion. Panic ensued backstage, but the cast were led to safety through the burning scenery by the efforts of Green (acting manager), Rowella (the 'clown'), Evans (the 'pantaloon'), Vivian (the 'sprite') and others. The cast, still in their flimsy stage clothes, were conveyed to their lodgings in a fleet of cabs, provided by the police. In less than ten minutes the interior was ablaze, and the theatre was burnt down shortly after midnight.
A new theatre, designed by John Ellis, seating 2,161 people in four tiers, opened on 26 December 1865. Little of note took place until 1881, when George Conquest took over, staging sensational dramas, many of them written by himself, which proved extremely popular, and each Christmas a pantomime
Pantomime
Pantomime — not to be confused with a mime artist, a theatrical performer of mime—is a musical-comedy theatrical production traditionally found in the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, Canada, Jamaica, South Africa, India, Ireland, Gibraltar and Malta, and is mostly performed during the...
.
The Surrey flourished until his death in 1901. The theatre was remodelled by Kirk and Kirk, as a music hall
Music hall
Music Hall is a type of British theatrical entertainment which was popular between 1850 and 1960. The term can refer to:# A particular form of variety entertainment involving a mixture of popular song, comedy and speciality acts...
, but did not prosper, becoming a cinema in 1920. It finally closed in 1924, and the building was demolished in 1934. The site is now occupied by modern flats.