Comedy Theatre
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Royal Comedy Theatre, is a West End Theatre, and opened on Panton Street on October 15, 1881. It was designed by Thomas Verity and built in just six months. By 1884 it was known as just the Comedy Theatre. In the mid-1950s the theatre went under major reconstruction and re-opened in December 1955.
The theatre's reputation grew through the World War I when C.B. Cochran and André Charlot presented their famous review shows. Famous actors who appeared here include Henry Daniell who played John Carlton in Secrets in September 1929.
It is also noted for its part played in the late 1950s when it overturned stage censorship by forming the 'New Watergate Club' at the theatre. Plays that had been banned due to language or subject matter could now be performed under 'club' conditions.
Recent productions have included Journey's End, The Old Masters, Whose Life is it Anyway?, The Home Place, Epitaph for George Dillon, The Caesar Twins, Steptoe and Son, Donkeys' Years, The Rocky Horror Show, Tom Stoppard's Rock'n'Roll and from 6th March 2007, the Mernier Chocolate Factory production of Little Shop of Horrors
[edit] References
- Who's Who in the Theatre, edited by John Parker, tenth edition, revised, London, 1947, pps: 477-478.
