The Rise and Fall of Manchester’s Theatre Royal
1775–1921
- Early Theatre in Manchester
- Manchester’s Theatre Royal Buildings
- Performances
- Actors and Actresses
- Legacy
- Discussion Points
- Additional Resources
Early Theatre in Manchester
Early dramatic performances in Manchester took place at the first Exchange (built 1729) on Market Street Lane, and at the Marsden Street Theatre (1753–75). These venues also staged other leisure activities including cockfights and concerts.
As Manchester increased in size and prosperity due to rapid industrialisation, support grew for a patent theatre. Patent theatres, like London’s Theatre Royals in Drury Lane and Covent Garden, were licensed to perform spoken drama (‘legitimate theatre’). Elsewhere, theatres were limited to entertainments that included music, such as burletta, melodrama and pantomime. Manchester’s patent (1775) boosted the town’s status as an important cultural centre.
Manchester’s Theatre Royal Buildings
Changing demand and fires (a common problem before electric lighting) led to frequent rebuilding of provincial theatres. In Manchester, ‘Theatre Royal’ refers to three different venues: Spring Gardens (1775–1807); Fountain Street (1807–44), and Peter Street (1845–1921).
The first Theatre Royal building, paid for by forty subscribers, opened in Whit Week, 1775 with a performance of ‘Othello’. Audiences could choose from a box (three shillings), the pit (two shillings) or the gallery (one shilling) according to their wealth and social status. In 1789, the theatre burned down, and was rebuilt on the same site. The new building soon proved unfit for purpose:
“… a plain brick edifice, scarcely worthy of a town of so much eminence, 102 feet long, by 48, which is extremely incommodious.”
James Winston, ‘The Theatric Tourist’ (1805)
In 1807, the patent moved to a larger subscription-built theatre in Fountain Street. If the first Theatre Royal was too small, the second was too big. In her novel ‘The Manchester Man’, Isabella Banks describes how the box-lobby was so long and wide that “carriages might have driven through”. Conversion of the lobby into a warehouse reduced capacity to 2,000 people, but the building was still large enough to stage equestrian events. Following redecoration and refurbishment in 1842, the theatre burned down in 1844.
Built on a new site in Peter Street, Manchester’s third Theatre Royal was dedicated to Shakespeare. A Carrera marble statue of the Bard stood over the entrance. The frontage also boasted two Corinthian columns, and the design included an enormous water tank on the roof to safeguard against fire. The theatre accommodated 2147 people. The theatre survived into the 20th century, but closed in 1921, due to increasing competition from surrounding theatres, music halls and cinemas. Following use as a cinema, music hall and nightclub, the Grade II listed building currently lies empty.
Performances
Playbills for the Theatre Royal reveal the variety of performances on offer. Plays by Shakespeare, Jonson, Restoration playwrights and modern dramatists all formed part of the repertoire. Unlike today, an evening’s programme included more than one play, combining serious drama with lighter pieces such as farce, burletta or pantomime. Other amusements included songs, dances, and even acrobatics. The programme changed regularly, often on a daily basis.
Plays were not always performed as originally written. Alterations and amendments were made to suit prevailing tastes, or the length of the evening (“compressed into one act”). Local scenes and references were always popular with audiences. For example, scenes in the 1857 pantomime of ‘Robinson Crusoe’ included “John Dalton Street, Manchester” and “Chat Moss”, while Crusoe describes the remote island as “As desolate as Blackpool, out of season”.
Actors and Actresses
The Theatre Royal maintained a stock company of actors, as well as hosting visiting stars from London and elsewhere. ‘The Townsman’ (1803–05), a theatrical review by James Watson (1775–1820) contains criticisms of some performers. Low salaries were supplemented with benefit nights, when individuals or small groups of performers (or backroom staff) received a substantial portion of the evening’s takings.
Famous names to tread Manchester’s boards include: George Frederick Cooke; Sarah Siddons, the Kembles, and Ellen Tree. In 1847, Charles Dickens appeared in a star-studded charity performance alongside his family and friends.
Legacy
For nearly a century and a half, the Theatre Royal was at the centre of Manchester’s leisure industry, staging thousands of plays for the growing population. Its legacy is felt through the region’s rich theatrical history and in the relationship between commerce and art, which thrives in the city today.
Discussion Points
How would an evening at the theatre in the 18th/19th century compare to the modern day?
Which plays do you recognise? Why do some plays become obscure?
Additional Resources
J L Hodgkinson and Rex Pogson, ‘The Early Manchester Theatre’ (London, 1960)
Terry Wyke and Nigel Rudyard (comp.), ‘Manchester Theatres’ (Manchester, 1994)
Marilyn Shalk’s blogs on the history of Manchester theatres and stars that appeared there.
Matthew Lloyd’s website on music hall and theatre history includes an 1896 article from ‘The Era’ on the history of Manchester theatres, plus information on the first, second and third Theatre Royals.
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