DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.1213#0303
DRURY-LANE THEATRE. 219 |
the site of the old Plio3nix. It was opened on the 8th of
April, 1663, with Beaumont and Fletcher's comedy of the
" Humorous Lieutenant," and the performers were styled
the king's servants. At this theatre it was that Charles
II. first succumbed to the influence of the beautiful Nell
Gwynne, when she represented Valeria, in Dry den's tra-
gedy of "Tyrannic Love." This new temple of the drama
was destroyed in 1672, by what appears to be the common
lot of theatres—fire; with nearly sixty of the adjacent
houses. Sir Christopher Wren was the architect of its
successor, which was opened on the 26th of March, 1674.
It was enlarged, renovated, and almost entirely recon-
structed in 1741. Six years afterwards, Garrick became
the lessee, when the address of Dr. Johnson was spoken,
commencing—
" "When learning's triumph o'er her barharous foes,
First reared the stage, immortal Shakspere rose."
Garrick remained manager of the theatre, and its chief
support, till his death, when the property changed hands.
The theatre was rebuilt in 1794, after the designs of Mr.
Henry Holland. The stage was 73 feet in width, and the
interior yielded accommodation for more than 3,600 per-
sons. As so many theatres had been destroyed by fire,
it was resolved to make the new one an exception to the
calamity which had befallen its predecessors. An iron
curtain, proof against the force of a sledge-hammer, was
made so as to let down in a critical moment, and divide
the audience from the stage j while a reservoir was formed
on the top of the house, filled with water sufficient, as the
epilogue spoken at the opening of the theatre by Miss
Farren (afterwards Duchess of Bolton), gave assurance, to
"' drown the audience in a minute f and on the first night
the iron curtain was lowered, and the stage was filled with
water, through which a man rowed in a boat. These
extraordinary precautions, however, did not answer the
purpose for which they were intended, and failed to avert
the conflagration to which it had been boasted that Drurv-
the site of the old Plio3nix. It was opened on the 8th of
April, 1663, with Beaumont and Fletcher's comedy of the
" Humorous Lieutenant," and the performers were styled
the king's servants. At this theatre it was that Charles
II. first succumbed to the influence of the beautiful Nell
Gwynne, when she represented Valeria, in Dry den's tra-
gedy of "Tyrannic Love." This new temple of the drama
was destroyed in 1672, by what appears to be the common
lot of theatres—fire; with nearly sixty of the adjacent
houses. Sir Christopher Wren was the architect of its
successor, which was opened on the 26th of March, 1674.
It was enlarged, renovated, and almost entirely recon-
structed in 1741. Six years afterwards, Garrick became
the lessee, when the address of Dr. Johnson was spoken,
commencing—
" "When learning's triumph o'er her barharous foes,
First reared the stage, immortal Shakspere rose."
Garrick remained manager of the theatre, and its chief
support, till his death, when the property changed hands.
The theatre was rebuilt in 1794, after the designs of Mr.
Henry Holland. The stage was 73 feet in width, and the
interior yielded accommodation for more than 3,600 per-
sons. As so many theatres had been destroyed by fire,
it was resolved to make the new one an exception to the
calamity which had befallen its predecessors. An iron
curtain, proof against the force of a sledge-hammer, was
made so as to let down in a critical moment, and divide
the audience from the stage j while a reservoir was formed
on the top of the house, filled with water sufficient, as the
epilogue spoken at the opening of the theatre by Miss
Farren (afterwards Duchess of Bolton), gave assurance, to
"' drown the audience in a minute f and on the first night
the iron curtain was lowered, and the stage was filled with
water, through which a man rowed in a boat. These
extraordinary precautions, however, did not answer the
purpose for which they were intended, and failed to avert
the conflagration to which it had been boasted that Drurv-