Peacock Theatre

Address: Portugal Street, London, WC2A 2HT

Tube: Holborn

Architect: Bertie Crewe

Opened: 13 November 1911

Rebuilt: 1960

Capacity: 999

The London School of Economics campus owns the 999 seat Peacock Theatre, and it is situated on its grounds. They also use it for lecture tours and speeches. They lease it to commercial companies, currently Sadler's Wells. A theatre has stood on this same site since the 17th century, when it was known as the Vere Street Theatre. It was here that the first identified woman, Mrs Hughes, trod the boards of a London theatre, on 8th December 1660.

The Stoll Theatre closed on the 4th August 1957 and was demolished to make way for an office block. However, the basement housed The Royalty Theatre, which opened in 1960 with a capacity of 1000. It was the first West End theatre to be built since the Saville Theatre in 1931. The MGM film Ben Hur played at the theatre in 1961. Mutiny on the Bounty played next, and the theatre was then equipped for screening Cinerama films and became London's third Cinerama theatre after the Casino Cinerama and the Coliseum Cinerama.

In 1966, the house returned to live theatre use. The Royalty Theatre's only successes were a run of the hit Oh Calcutta and a hit production of Bubbling Brown Sugar in the late 1970s. Spectacular 'follies' style shows and 'drag' shows opened but were not a success, and the theatre became used as a TV studio for This is Your Life. It was later purchased by the London School of Economics and renamed the Peacock Theatre.

When Sadler's Wells determined to build its new theatre in 1996, the company moved to the Peacock Theatre. After the new Sadler's Wells Theatre opened in 1998, the Peacock became a dance venue for the company. The Rat Pack played at the theatre in 2002, and Doldrum Bay premièred here in 2003. The house is now shared between the London School of Economics lectures during the day and the Sadler's Wells evening dance productions.