The history of the Theatre Royal, Edinburgh involves two sites. The first building, on

Princes Street Princes Street ( gd, Sràid nam Prionnsan) is one of the major thoroughfares in central Edinburgh, Scotland and the main shopping street in the capital. It is the southernmost street of Edinburgh's New Town, stretching around 1.2 km (three ...

, opened 1769 and was rebuilt in 1830 by

Thomas Hosmer Shepherd Thomas Hosmer Shepherd (16 January 1793, France – 1864) was a British topographical watercolour artist well known for his architectural paintings. Life and work Thomas was the brother of topographical artist George Shepherd (artist), ...

. The second site was on Broughton Street.

History

The first Theatre Royal was in Shakespeare Square, at the east end of

. This was opened 9 December 1769 by actor-manager David Ross.

Mary Bulkley Mary Bulkley, née Wilford (1747/8 – 1792), known professionally as Mrs Bulkley, Miss Bulkley, and later Mrs Barresford, was an English eighteenth-century dancer and comedy stage actress. She performed at various theatres, especially Covent G ...

performed here during the 1780s.Oxford Dictionary of National Biography: Bulkley née Wilford; other married name Barresford, Mary, by John Levitt
/ref> In July 1792

Harriet Pye Esten Harriet Pye Esten or Harriet Pye Scott-Waring born Harriet Pye Bennett (1760s? – 1865) was an English actress and briefly a theatre manager. Life Esten was born in Tooting in or around the 1760s. She was the daughter of housekeeper Anna Maria ...

became the theatre manager when she purchased the lease. The theatre had been run by

Stephen Kemble George Stephen Kemble (21 April 1758 – 5 June 1822) was a successful English theatre manager, actor, and writer, and a member of the famous Kemble family. He was described as "the best Sir John Falstaff which the British stage ever saw" though ...

but he lost the rights to perform which were withdrawn by Esten's lover

Douglas Hamilton, 8th Duke of Hamilton Douglas Hamilton, 8th Duke of Hamilton, 5th Duke of Brandon and 2nd Baron Hamilton of Hameldon, (24 July 1756 – 2 August 1799) was a Scottish peer, nobleman, and politician. Life Hamilton was born at the Palace of Holyroodhouse, the son o ...

. In 1794 Esten returned the rights to Stephen Kemble to perform in

Edinburgh Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian ...

in exchange for £200 a year. In 1809 the theatre was taken over by

Sarah Siddons Sarah Siddons (''née'' Kemble; 5 July 1755 – 8 June 1831) was a Welsh actress, the best-known tragedienne of the 18th century. Contemporaneous critic William Hazlitt dubbed Siddons as "tragedy personified". She was the elder sister of John ...

's actor son,

Henry Siddons Henry Siddons (4 October 1774 – 12 April 1815) was an English actor and theatrical manager, now remembered as a writer on gesture. Life Siddons was the eldest child of Sarah Siddons, and was educated at Charterhouse School, being intend ...

. It went into a period of decline under his control, but following his death in 1815 was revived by his wife,

Harriet Siddons Harriet Siddons (née Murray; 16 April 1783 2 November 1844), sometimes known as Mrs Henry Siddons, was a Scottish actress and theatre manager. Edinburgh referred to her as "Our" Mrs Siddons to distinguish her from her English mother-in-law ...

and her brother

William Henry Murray William Henry Wood Murray (1790–1852), a Scottish actor, manager and theatre owner in Edinburgh, was a friend of Walter Scott and particularly associated with dramatisations of Scott's Waverley Novels. Life Born in Bath on 26 August 1790, h ...

who controlled the theatre until 1851. The theatre was at its peak from 1815 to 1850, and it was rebuilt in 1830. The first theatre was demolished in 1859 to make way for the building of the General Post Office. The royal patent and title was then transferred to the Queen's Theatre and Operetta House in a site in Broughton Street, on an earlier Circus (previously the Adelphi Theatre). The manager of the theatre was

Robert Henry Wyndham Robert Henry Wyndham (8 April 1814 – 16 December 1894) was a British actor-manager. From 1851 to 1875 he was actor-manager in Edinburgh, where notable plays of the day were performed and where Henry Irving's early career took place. Early car ...

. It burned down and was rebuilt in 1865, 1875, and 1884, each time retaining the patent. The last architect was Charles Phipps when in 1884 it was leased to Cecil Beryl of the Princess's Theatre, Glasgow. This Theatre Royal became part of

Howard & Wyndham Ltd Howard & Wyndham Ltd was a theatre owning, production and management company named after John B. Howard and Frederick W. P. Wyndham, founded in Glasgow in 1895, and which became the largest of its type in Britain. The company continued well into the ...

formed in Glasgow in 1895. From the 1920s

Howard & Wyndham Howard & Wyndham Ltd was a theatre owning, production and management company named after John B. Howard and Frederick W. P. Wyndham, founded in Glasgow in 1895, and which became the largest of its type in Britain. The company continued well into the ...

leased it out to Fred Collins, lessee of Glasgow's Pavilion Theatre, as the Theatre Royal Varieties, with the Collins family establishing its wardrobe and production centre adjacent. It was destroyed by fire in 1946 and not rebuilt only due to post-war shortages of building materials.

References

External links

Playbills of the Theatre Royal, Edinburgh
from

National Library of Scotland The National Library of Scotland (NLS) ( gd, Leabharlann Nàiseanta na h-Alba, sco, Naitional Leebrar o Scotland) is the legal deposit library of Scotland and is one of the country's National Collections. As one of the largest libraries in the ...

Arthur Lloyd
{{Authority control Theatres in Edinburgh Former theatres in Scotland 1769 establishments in Scotland