Prince of Wales Theatre Cardiff Wood St facade B

The Prince of Wales Theatre is a former theatre in central

Cardiff Cardiff (; ) is the capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of Wales. Cardiff had a population of in and forms a Principal areas of Wales, principal area officially known as the City and County of Ca ...

. Built in 1878, seating 2,800, it later became a sex cinema. It is now a

pub A pub (short for public house) is in several countries a drinking establishment licensed to serve alcoholic drinks for consumption on the premises. The term first appeared in England in the late 17th century, to differentiate private ho ...

. The building is located near

Cardiff Central railway station Cardiff Central () is a major station on the South Wales Main Line. It is located in the capital of Wales, Cardiff, down the line from London Paddington, via , and measured via . It is one of the city's two urban rail network hubs, along wi ...

, near the corner of St Mary Street and Wood Street, with entrances and façades on both streets.

Architecture

Prince of Wales Theatre Cardiff St Mary St facade B

The theatre was built in 1878 to a

Venetian Gothic Venetian Gothic is the particular form of Italian Gothic architecture typical of Venice, originating in local building requirements, with some influence from Byzantine architecture, and some from Islamic architecture, reflecting Venice's trading ...

design by the architects W. D. Blessley and T. Waring, during a period when Cardiff, then a prosperous coal-exporting port, was rapidly expanding. The building was a prompt replacement of Cardiff's old Theatre Royal in Queen Street (built 1827, which had burnt down in December) doubling the audience capacity to almost 2000, and was opened on 7 October 1878. The main stage was 56 feet wide and 46 feet deep, framed by a

proscenium arch A proscenium (, ) is the virtual vertical plane of space in a theatre, usually surrounded on the top and sides by a physical proscenium arch (whether or not truly "arched") and on the bottom by the stage floor itself, which serves as the frame ...

30 feet high, topped with the royal coat of arms. Interior decoration was in gold and white and the building was illuminated after dark using 800 gas lamps. The theatre was later rebuilt in the

Greek Revival Greek Revival architecture is a architectural style, style that began in the middle of the 18th century but which particularly flourished in the late 18th and early 19th centuries, predominantly in northern Europe, the United States, and Canada, ...

style to a design by Willmott & Smith. An additional entrance on St Mary Street was added with two large fluted Doric columns flanking a neoclassical statue of a young woman holding a cup. The interior of the theatre was remodelled in 1920 in the same Greek style. The

is flanked by massive Ionic columns carrying a large triangular pediment with an elaborate Grecian

bas-relief Relief is a sculptural method in which the sculpted pieces remain attached to a solid background of the same material. The term ''relief'' is from the Latin verb , to raise (). To create a sculpture in relief is to give the impression that th ...

frieze above. In 1988, the interior was divided into multiple spaces for a variety of uses, including an

amusement arcade An amusement arcade, also known as a video arcade, amusements, arcade, or penny arcade (an older term), is a venue where people play arcade games, including arcade video games, pinball machines, electro-mechanical games, redemption games, mercha ...

and a

. This largely obscured the original interior. The interior was again altered in 1999, converting the entire space into a pub and partly restoring the 1920 interior. The building was designated a

Grade II listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building is a structure of particular architectural or historic interest deserving of special protection. Such buildings are placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, H ...

in 1960.

History

Prince of Wales Theatre Cardiff proscenium

From 1881, the theatre was managed by Edward John Fletcher (1837-1896). *1878–1914 "New Theatre Royal" *1914–1920 closed *1920–1924 "The Playhouse' *1931–1934 "The Playhouse, managed by William Coutts *1935–1957 "The Prince of Wales" (mainly live theatre) *1958–1974 Films and limited live theatre. Live shows stopped by 1965, and it became a sex cinema showing

pornographic films Pornographic films (pornos), erotic films, adult films, blue films, sexually explicit films, or 18+ films, are films that represent Human sexual activity, sexually WIKT:explicit, explicit subject matter in order to sexual arousal, arouse, fasci ...

. *1974 planning consent to demolish the building was refused. *1984–1987 "Caeser's Nightclub" *1988 Converted into an amusement arcade and a pub *1999 Re-converted into a pub, partially restoring the interior. In 1970 the Welsh Theatre Company was planning to move to the theatre, but this was abandoned.

Notable productions

The opening production in 1878 was ''

Pygmalion and Galatea Pygmalion and Galatea are two characters from Greco-Roman mythology. Pygmalion and Galatea may also refer to: * ''Pygmalion and Galatea'' (play), a play by W. S. Gilbert * ''Pygmalion and the Image series'', a series of paintings by Edward Burne- ...

'' by

W. S. Gilbert Sir William Schwenck Gilbert (18 November 1836 – 29 May 1911) was an English dramatist, librettist, poet and illustrator best known for his collaboration with composer Arthur Sullivan, which produced fourteen comic operas. The most fam ...

. The

Welsh National Opera Welsh National Opera (WNO) () is an opera company based in Cardiff, Wales. WNO gave its first performances in 1946. The company began as a mainly amateur body and transformed into an all-professional ensemble by 1973. In its early days, the ...

company's opening performance was at the theatre in 1946, when ''

Cavalleria rusticana ''Cavalleria rusticana'' (; ) is an opera in one act by Pietro Mascagni to an Italian libretto by Giovanni Targioni-Tozzetti and Guido Menasci, adapted from an 1880 Cavalleria rusticana (short story), short story of the same name and subsequent ...

'' was performed. The Welsh tenor

Robert Tear Robert Tear, CBE (8 March 1939 – 29 March 2011) was a Welsh tenor singer, teacher and conductor. He first became known singing in the operas of Benjamin Britten in the mid-1960s. From the 1970s until his retirement in 1999 his main operati ...

, then a schoolboy, started his career in this performance.

Performers

Prince of Wales Theatre Cardiff advert 1882

Several stars appeared in person at the theatre, including: *

Richard Burton Richard Burton (; born Richard Walter Jenkins Jr.; 10 November 1925 – 5 August 1984) was a Welsh actor. Noted for his mellifluous baritone voice, Burton established himself as a formidable Shakespearean actor in the 1950s and gave a memor ...

Noël Coward Sir Noël Peirce Coward (16 December 189926 March 1973) was an English playwright, composer, director, actor, and singer, known for his wit, flamboyance, and what ''Time (magazine), Time'' called "a sense of personal style, a combination of c ...

John Gielgud Sir Arthur John Gielgud ( ; 14 April 1904 – 21 May 2000) was an English actor and theatre director whose career spanned eight decades. With Ralph Richardson and Laurence Olivier, he was one of the trinity of actors who dominated the Britis ...

Rex Harrison Sir Reginald Carey Harrison (5 March 1908 – 2 June 1990) was an English actor. Harrison began his career on the stage at the Liverpool Playhouse in 1924. He made his West End debut in 1936 appearing in the Terence Rattigan play '' French W ...

Kay Kendall Justine Kay Kendall McCarthy (21 May 1927 – 6 September 1959) was an English actress and singer. She began her film career in the musical film ''London Town (1946 film), London Town'' (1946), a financial failure. Kendall worked regularly unti ...

Vivien Leigh Vivien Leigh ( ; born Vivian Mary Hartley; 5 November 1913 – 8 July 1967), styled as Lady Olivier after 1947, was a British actress. After completing her drama school education, Leigh appeared in small roles in four films in 1935 and progress ...

* Robert Montgomery *

Laurence Olivier Laurence Kerr Olivier, Baron Olivier ( ; 22 May 1907 – 11 July 1989) was an English actor and director. He and his contemporaries Ralph Richardson and John Gielgud made up a trio of male actors who dominated the British stage of the m ...

Donald Wolfit Sir Donald Wolfit (born Donald Woolfitt; 20 April 1902 – 17 February 1968) was an English actor-manager, known for his touring productions of Shakespeare. He was especially renowned for his portrayal of King Lear. Born to a conventional midd ...

Binkie Beaumont Hugh "Binkie" Beaumont (27 March 1908 - 22 March 1973) was a British theatre manager and producer, sometimes referred to as the " éminence grise" of the West End theatre. Though he shunned the spotlight so that his name was not known widely am ...

(1908–1973) was appointed assistant manager of the theatre at the age of 16. This led to his career as a producer in London's West End.

References

External links

* * – Photograph of the 1920 interior * – Blog on historic Cardiff theatres {{Theatres in Wales Theatres in Cardiff Grade II listed buildings in Cardiff Theatres completed in 1878 Venetian Gothic architecture in the United Kingdom Greek Revival architecture in the United Kingdom