Oldest London Theatres

A list of the earliest established theatres in London

Here it is - a list of The Oldest London Theatres. All the theatres listed here are still entertaining the public on the same site that they were first established. Some of the theatres have different names now to when they were first established and some have had the fabric of the building rebuilt. Enjoy.

Oldest London Theatres

Theatre Royal, Drury Lane - Established 7th May 1663.
Sadler's Wells Theatre, Roseberry Avenue, Islington - Established 3rd June 1683.
The Haymarket Theatre, (Theatre Royal), Haymarket - Established 29th December 1720.
Royal Opera House, Covent Garden - Established 7th December 1732.
The Adelphi Theatre, (was originally Sans Pareil Theatre), The Strand - Established 27th (?) November 1806.
The Old Vic Theatre, (was originally Royal Coburg Theatre), Waterloo Road - Established 11th May 1818.
The Vaudeville Theatre, The Strand - Established 16th April 1870.
The Criterion Theatre, Piccadilly Circus - Established 21st March 1874.
The Savoy Theatre, The Strand - Established 10th October 1881.
The Comedy Theatre, Panton Street - Established 15th October 1881.

The Oldest Theatre

The Theatre Royal in Drury Lane, (actually the theatre is on Catherine Street but backs onto Drury Lane), was originally a cockpit where the public were entertained by fighting birds. During the reign of James the First, the cockpit was converted to a theatre, and then in 1669 a new theatre designed by Christopher Wren was built on the site. This theatre was destroyed by fire and another Sir Christopher Wren design arose from the ashes which could house an audience of two thousand souls. A further theatre was built on the site designed by Henry Holland and opening in March 1794, only to again, be destroyed by fire. Todays Theatre royal was designed by Benjamin Wyatt and opened on the 10th October 1812 with a production of Shakespeare's Hamlet. the present Theatre Royal can seat an audience of 2,205 making it eminently suitable for some of London's biggest theatrical productions.