page_title: Theatre Royal Haymarket
section_title: The latter half of the 19th century
hierarchical_section_title: Theatre Royal Haymarket / History of the theatre / The latter half of the 19th century
caption_attribution_description: W.S. Gilbert's burlesque comedy, "Engaged" poster Call number: POS - TH - 1879 .E52, no. 1 (C size) &lt;P&amp;P&gt;[P&amp;P] Reproduction number: LC-USZC4-10765 (color film copy transparency) Part of: Theatrical Poster Collection (Library of Congress) Repository: Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division Washington, D.C. 20540 USA
context_page_description: The Theatre Royal Haymarket is a West End theatre on Haymarket in the City of Westminster which dates back to 1720, making it the third-oldest London playhouse still in use. Samuel Foote acquired the lease in 1747, and in 1766 he gained a royal patent to play legitimate drama in the summer months. The original building was a little further north in the same street. It has been at its current location since 1821, when it was redesigned by John Nash. It is a Grade I listed building, with a seating capacity of 888. The freehold of the theatre is owned by the Crown Estate.
  The Haymarket has been the site of a significant innovation in theatre. In 1873, it was the venue for the first scheduled matinée performance, establishing a custom soon followed in theatres everywhere. Its managers have included Benjamin Nottingham Webster, John Baldwin Buckstone, Squire Bancroft, Cyril Maude, Herbert Beerbohm Tree, and John Sleeper Clarke, brother-in-law of John Wilkes Booth, who quit America after the assassination of Abraham Lincoln. Famous actors who débuted at the theatre included Robert William Elliston and John Liston.
context_section_description: In 1862, the theatre was host to a 400-night run of Our American Cousin, with Edward Sothern as Lord Dundreary.  The play's success brought the word "dreary" into common use.  Robertson's David Garrick was a hit in 1864, also with Sothern in the title role.  Sothern also starred in H. J. Byron's An English Gentleman at the theatre in 1871. W. S. Gilbert premiered seven of his plays at the Haymarket. The first was his early burlesque, Robinson Crusoe; or, The Injun Bride and the Injured Wife (1867, written with Byron, Tom Hood, H. S. Leigh and Arthur Sketchley).  Gilbert followed this with a number of his blank verse "fairy comedies", the first of which was The Palace of Truth (1870), produced by Buckstone.  These starred William Hunter Kendal and his wife Madge Robertson Kendal and also included Pygmalion and Galatea (1871), and The Wicked World (1873).  Gilbert also produced here his dramas, Charity (1874), Dan'l Druce, Blacksmith (1876), and his most famous play outside of his Savoy Operas, Engaged, an 1877 farce.  Buckstone's ghost has reportedly often been seen at the theatre, particularly during comedies and "when he appreciates things" playing there.  In 2009, The Daily Telegraph reported that the actor Patrick Stewart saw the ghost standing in the wings during a performance of Waiting for Godot at the Haymarket.
  In 1873, scheduled matinées were introduced, for the first time in London, starting at 2.00 pm. In May 1875, Sullivan's The Zoo transferred to the Haymarket. In 1879 the house was taken over by the Bancrofts, who re-opened the theatre with a revival of Edward Bulwer-Lytton's Money, followed by Victorien Sardou's Odette (for which they engaged Madame Helena Modjeska) and Fedora, and Arthur Wing Pinero's Lords and Commons, with other revivals of previous successes. The auditorium was reconstructed, and the stage enclosed in a complete picture frame proscenium, the first in London. The abolition of the pit by the introduction of stalls seating divided by plain iron arms caused a small riot.
  Herbert Beerbohm Tree transferred from the Comedy Theatre with The Red Lamp in 1887. He took over upon the retirement of the Bancrofts and installed electric light in the theatre. Under Tree's management, Oscar Wilde premiered his comedy A Woman of No Importance in April 1893. In January 1895 Wilde's An Ideal Husband was first performed. Tree's next notable hit was George du Maurier's Trilby, later in 1895. This ran for over 260 performances and made such profits that Tree was able to build Her Majesty's Theatre and establish RADA.
  In 1896 Cyril Maude and Frederick Harrison became lessees, opening with Under the Red Robe, an adaptation of Stanley Wyman's novel. In 1897 The Little Minister by J. M. Barrie ran for 320 performances.
caption: Engaged, Gilbert's most famous play outside of his works with Sullivan, premièred at the Haymarket in 1877.
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