garrick-theatre-london

The Garrick Theatre is a West End theatre, located in Charing Cross Road, in the City of Westminster. It is named after the stage actor David Garrick.

The idea for a West End theatre at the end of Charing Cross Road, where it enters St Martin's Place, originated with the dramatist W. S. Gilbert. It was the second London theatre and the first in the West End named after the eighteenth-century actor David Garrick. Gilbert financed the building of the theatre for the actor-manager John Hare, on a plot of ground for which Gilbert obtained a long lease. The theatre was designed by Walter Emden and C. J. Phipps. When the building was under way it was feared that the work might have to be abandoned. As the theatre was to be built partially below ground (the back of the dress circle was at street level) deep excavations were required and water was discovered. This proved to be an old river known to the Romans which flowed underneath the site. Gilbert commented humorously that he was in grave doubt whether to keep on building or to let the fishing rights. Building costs far exceeded the original estimates and Gilbert had borrowed £15,000. This affected the rent to be charged to Hare as tenant, which was set at a little over £4,000 a year. Hare protested mildly, and Gilbert responded, "You must see that investing £44,000 in the Garrick Theatre is not quite the same thing as investing it in Consols". He said it was "a most risky & utterly inconvertible form of security" and he had made the investment to save Hare "from falling into the hands of City harpies who would have made you bleed to the tune of 10%". Hare replied that although he knew Gilbert acted out of friendship, it was only business-like to have protested.

Eventually the engineering problems were overcome and the new theatre opened on 24 April 1889, with Arthur Wing Pinero's The Profligate. As well as Hare the cast included Johnston Forbes-Robertson and Lewis Waller. Gilbert was not present at the first night, being on a Mediterranean cruise for the good of his health. His collaborator in the Savoy Operas, Sir Arthur Sullivan, was there: he had composed an incidental song for the piece and played the piano accompaniment from the wings. "Very brilliant success", he recorded. The Era reported that the house was "filled from the front row of the stalls to the top-most seat in the gallery, the higher priced parts of the house being occupied by a distinguished assembly that included representatives of art, science, literature, and fashion". The Stage for 26 April said:

The Era stated on 27 April:

The Profligate was a success and ran for 129 performances. According to the theatre historians Mander and Mitchenson, "This play was a landmark in theatrical history, as it threw emphasis on the playwright rather than on the actors and heralded a new tendency for the author to have more importance than the players". The Profligate was followed by La Tosca (1889), an English version of Victorien Sardou's play, later familiar in Puccini's operatic setting, and then Sydney Grundy's A Pair of Spectacles (1890), Pinero's Lady Bountiful (1891), and a revival of Grundy's A Fool's Paradise (1892). After a starrily cast revival of Diplomacy, Hare presented Pinero's The Notorious Mrs Ebbsmith in 1895, which shocked sections of the audience by featuring a heroine with what were then seen as loose morals. Hare retired from the management of the Garrick in 1895 and after seasons under E. S. Willard and the Kendals the house became a venue for comic opera and musical comedies under the management of H. T. Brickwell, and for visits from overseas companies.

Available at this venue:

• Wheelchair-accessible entrance
• Wheelchair-accessible seating
• Wheelchair-accessible toilet

Not available at this venue:

• Wheelchair-accessible parking

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