Old Vic theatre
Old Vic theatre.Located in the Cut, off Waterloo Road, it is the fifth oldest standing theatre in London. Originally the Royal Coburg (built 1818), it provided broad melodrama but also hosted six appearances by Edmund Kean (1831). It was redecorated in 1833, renamed the Royal Victoria Theatre after the future Queen, and soon became known affectionately as the ‘Old Vic’. Struggling financially, it was bought by social worker Emma Cons in 1880 and opened as a temperance music hall managed by William Poel. In the 1900s, Cons began staging Shakespearian scenes during concert interludes. In 1914, Cons's niece Lilian Baylis, now controlling the theatre, mounted the first entirely Shakespearian season. The following season, Baylis put Ben Greet in charge of production. A series of great actors such as Sybil Thorndike, John Gielgud, Edith Evans, Peggy Ashcroft, and Richard Burton contributed to the theatre's success. It housed the National Theatre Company under...
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