Capel Street Theatre was an 18th-century

theatre Theatre or theater is a collaborative form of performing art that uses live performers, usually actors or actresses, to present the experience of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place, often a stage. The perform ...

located on

Capel Street Capel Street is a street in Dublin, Ireland. On 20 May 2022, it was made traffic-free, following a campaign by people who wanted to improve the quality of life on the street. It is now the longest traffic-free street in Dublin. History Capel ...

Dublin Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of th ...

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

. The Capel Street Theatre had two distinct periods in its history. The first theatre on the site was called the 'New Theatre in Capel Street' or 'City Theatre in Capel Street' and was built by William 'Harlequin' Phillips on a strip of land 50 feet by 100 feet that he leased on the West side of Capel Street between Little Strand Street and Mary's Abbey. In 1744 Phillips and his wife were members of the United Company in Dublin; they and other members of the troupe became increasingly dissatisfied with their treatment, so Phillips, his wife and members of the Company went to the small playhouse he had built and which opened in January 1745. The theatre stood some 50 feet back from the street behind Nos 136 and 137 Capel Street and was reached by way of a passageway. The theatre's auditorium had boxes, lattices, an orchestra pit and first and second floor galleries. However, the theatre had been built hastily causing concerns about its safety, forcing the manager to issue a statement that he would obtain the necessary certificates from Master Builders. This theatre closed in 1749 and the building was appropriated for other uses. The second theatre was known as the City Theatre and was in the same building as the earlier theatre and opened on 26 February 1770 with the investors being Mr. Dawson, Mr. Mahon, and Mr. Wilkes. The theatre opened with a production featuring

William Thomas Lewis William Thomas Lewis (1748?–1811), known as "Gentleman" Lewis, due to his refined acting style, was an English actor. He was said to be "the most complete fop on the stage". In later life he went into theatrical management. Early days in Ir ...

Dawson was the manager of this new erected company, and by the experience he had had, was, in many respects, equal to the task. He was active, industrious, and intelligent, well acquainted with the world, and prompt to improve every opportunity fortune threw in his way. The theatre was elegantly ornamented and beautified; the scenes new painted, by Jolly. The wardrobe, as might be expected, light, but fashionable, and shewy. Every arrangement being adjusted, in the best manner the times would permit, the new adventurers opened on Monday February 26th, 1770, with a new comedy, never performed in this kingdom, written by Hugh Kelly, Esq and then in reputation in London, called ''
False Delicacy ''False Delicacy'' is a 1768 comic play by the Irish playwright Hugh Kelly, with some assistance by David Garrick. It premiered at the Drury Lane Theatre on 23 January. The play was a major success for Kelly, being performed over twenty times ...
''.

The theatre closed in 1784. Among the actors to appear here were:

Charles Macklin Charles Macklin (26 September 1699 – 11 July 1797), (Gaelic: Cathal MacLochlainn, English: Charles McLaughlin), was an Irish actor and dramatist who performed extensively at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane. Macklin revolutionised theatre in ...

Elizabeth Younge Elizabeth Younge (1740 – 15 March 1797)Her epitaph in Westminster Abbey states that she died at the age of 52 but ''The New Monthly Magazine'' which gave her d.o.b. as 1940 wrote, "How this error in her age arose there is no possibility of ev ...

, and Henrietta Amelia Leeson. The dramatist Robert Houlton wrote works for the theatre for a season, sharing the honours with

Walley Chamberlain Oulton Walley Chamberlain Oulton (1770?–1820?) was an Irish playwright, theatre historian and man of letters. Life Born in Dublin, he was educated there in a private school. While a schoolboy he achieved some reputation as a writer of farces and musica ...

References

{{Theatres in Ireland Theatres in Dublin (city) Theatres completed in 1745 1745 establishments in Ireland