Old Vic Theatre

Address: Waterloo Road , London , SE1

Tube: Waterloo

Architect: Rudolph Cabanel of Aachen

Rebuilt: 1871 J T Robinson, 1880/1902 Elijah Hoole, 1922/1927 by Frank Matcham, 1933-8 F Green and Co, 1950 Pierre Sonrel, 1960 Sean Kenny, 1983 Renton, Howard, Wood and Levine.

Opened: 1818

Previous names: Royal Coburg Theatre, Royal Victorian Theatre, Royal Victoria Hall and Coffee Tavern

Capacity: 1067

The Old Vic Theatre is one of the most prestigious theatres in London, despite being South of the River Thames,and not in the West End. Thomas Serres as the marine painter to the King secured the patronage of Princess Charlotte and her husband Prince Leopold of Saxe-Coburg when he opened the theatre as the Royal Coburg Theatre. Then theatre was a fringe theatre, it did not have a full royal patent and could not show serious drama. Much of the material for the Theatre was recycled from the Savoy Palace in the Strand, which had been demolished that year.

In 1824 William Bolwell Davidge the theatre manager enticed the legendary Shakespearian actor Edmund Kean south of the river to play six Shakespeare plays in six nights. He was paid at the time $50 for a night which at the time was an enormous sum. Kean addressed the audience during his curtain call saying;

"I have never acted to such a set of ignorant, unmitigated brutes as I see before me."

In 1833 the abolition of the formal legal distinction between patent and minor theatres had occurred and in 1833 the theatre was renamed the Royal Victorian Theatre after Princess Victoria, the young heir to the throne. In 1880, it formally became The Royal Victoria Hall and Coffee Tavern, colloquially it was already referred to as the "Old Vic". This Victorian hall followed the guidelines of the Temperance Society and had important educational legacy. It charged a penny for lectures and this formed part of the basis of the funds for the foundation of Morley College, an adult education college that eventually moved to its own premises.

The Shakespearean repertoire was emphasised in the 1920’s and the Old Vic Company was established in 1929, with Sir John Gielgud as their major attraction. Between 1914 and 1923 The Old Vic presented the whole of the first Folio of Shakespeare's plays, a first in the Theatre world, it had never been done before. The old Vic theatre was bombed during the blitz and it forced the players to leave London and go into exile in Burnley, Lancashire from 1940 to 1943. The number of actors was severely reduced because many of the players were on active service. In 1944, the company returned to London with Sir Ralph Richardson and Lord Laurence Olivier, performing at the New Theatre until the Old Vic was rebuilt in 1950. The Bristol Old Vic was built in 1946.

In 1963, the Old Vic Company was dissolved and a new National Theatre Company was established directed by Lord Olivier. The National Theatre was opened in 1976 with three auditoriums. In 1974 the Old Vic presented its first fantasia rock concert, the progressive folk-rock band Gryphon presented Midnight Mushrumps.

After the departure of the National Theatre Company, the Old Vic continued as a home for classic and new drama. During the 1980’s it had another major refit.