The Washington herald., 1912-11-04
GOSSIP OF THE OLD WORLD
OF INTEREST TO THE NEW

+ r. b s
The most famous thsater Of the
Ensiish-speaking world. Drury Lane. In
London. last month celebrated the CEN
tury OF its present building. II was on
October TO- 1915. that the huge playhouse
was opened with performance Of
Hamlet" The occasion was marked BY
scenes Of wild disorder. due largely to
the jealousy o.. the II. competitors for
the honor >of writing the Introductory
address. Finally they were all super
seded In favor Of the following ode Of
Lord Byron:
saS. shall this new. nor isn 'ssparing PIE.
Reared where ooce Euae The mighttsst In osif isls
Know the same fayoe which fhs formef knew,
shzine for shakspsaFe-watby him and you!
Yes. II shan be!The mAs3c of the name
Dehes the scythe os Time. The torch Of fame:
On the same spot still consecEate the scene.
And BIDS the Drama b whese shs hath heen.
This fabrics birth aftests the nohas sEell-
Indnlse our honest PRIDE and say. How well!
fhe curtain r1sea. Nay our stase unfold
Scenes not unworthy Drury's days of Old!
BFitons our tudgss, NaturS for our guide.
Stu may We pasase-Ions. long. may you preside!
II IL dinicult now to understand all
that 'old Drury" meant to the theater
lover Of q century ago. 1t was then still
patent and apart from Covent Gar
den. all rivals existed on suffrance only.
True. its surroundings were not az fash
ionable AZ they had been. Tho parade
foyer) was not composed of bellies and
beaux quite 80 elegant as they had been
when Nance Ol6feld or Mrs. Brasegfrdle
were the boasts Of London town. when
in the days of puff and powder. silk
breeches, and towering head dresses,
wags and bodkined swells crowded the
coffee houses and liveried Sedan chair
men jostled and quarreled along the un-
even. cobbled streets. But from purely
dramatic view Drury Lane still had some
Of its greatest honors in store.
But for the portico in Catherine Street.
and the colonnade in Russell Street, both
added In 1881. the outside Of the audi
torium practically is unaltered. The
stage and all that part which is behind
the curtain had to be rebuilt only four
years ago owing to the latest disastrous
FIRE in the history Of Drury Lane.
The building. as seen to-day. is the
fourth that has stood upon the historic
site. The first was built on what was
rreviously a riding yard. by Thomas
Killigrew, and Sir William Davenant IRE
puted. on his own authority. to be a
natural son of Shakespeare). 1t was
known as the Theatre Royal" and was
opened by royal patent in 1858. the play
being Beaumont and Fletcher's ''Hu-
morous Lieutenant" This theater-the
'Drury Lane Of Pepys and Charles H..
and Sweet Nell Of Old Drury'-was
burnt after nine years. rebuilt from Sir
Christopher Wren's designs, and opened
Oft 10 xsyit rdn h,,
Dryden.
A better fate awaited Wren's building
the second Drury Lane. which seated
e.0OO people. and was restored by the
Adam brothers In 1775. 1t lasted through
six reigns. It was the Drury Lane OF
Cibber and Doggett and Sir Richard
Steele, OF Garrick and Of the early tri-
umphs Of Sheridan and the Kembles
After more than a century OF brilliant
life 1t fell into decay. and was pulled
down in 1871. TO be replaced by the third
tion from Handels oratories in 1874.
Sheridan being now sole patentee and
John Philip Kemble manager.
The third Drury Lane had a short ca
reer. 1t was burnt during the night In
1909. when a motion was made in the
Commons to adjourn the House by way
Of coincidence with Sheridan. who was
Member for Westminster. II held 3.Sll
people, about 40 less than the present
which was opened, as has been
said, just a hundred years ago. under the
auspices of a Committee OF Renters, Of
whom Lord Bryon was chairman.
As far as the stage was concerned,
this noble playhouse, which is said to
have been designed on the model of the
theater at Bordeaux. in France, still is.
by far, the largest in London. 100 feet
from wing to wing and with a depth
Of 100 feet from the proscenium to the
back wall In seating capacity it is not
quite the largest in London, the Lyceum,
with it's enormous gallery holding some
hundreds more. But In its admirable
acoustics. in space and comfort, the
four-tiered auditorium OF Drury Lane
has a character all its own.
After the reconstruction in 1895 the
stage roof was raised twenty feet, but
the old wooden roof was as sound as
when first made after the fire. At the
opening in 1872 candle light was the only
illuminant, gas arriving two years later.
was installed in 1889. OF which
there is used at the theater 10000
candle power. Throughout these hun
dred years, the Lane" has had a ca
reer strangely mingled Of dignity and
disaster. One of the first events to dis
tinguish it was Siddons' farewell" fol-
lowed after two years by the arrival of
Edmund Kean, who made his famous
first appearance as Shylock in 1914. At
The Harp" a hostelry which until re-
Gently stood opposite the stage door. a
mark used to be shown on the wall made