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| Address | John Adam Street, Adelphi, Strand City of Westminster, London  United Kingdom |
|---|---|
| Type | West End theatre |
| Opened | 1910 |
| Closed | 1941 |
The Little Theatre in the Adelphi was a 250-seat theatre in London, in a site to the south of [[The Little Theatre in the Adelphi was a 250-seat theatre in London, in a site to the south of the Strand. It was opened in 1910 and was demolished in 1949.
Origins
The theatre was in a block, part of the original Adam Brothers' Adelphi development, between the Strand and the River Thames bounded by Adam Street, John Street (now John Adam Street) and Durham Street (now Durham House Street). The theatre was constructed in 1910 from a banking hall previously used by Coutts. The seating capacity was 250.
The first lessee of the Little Theatre was the actor-manager Gertrude Kingston, who had it equipped largely to her specification, the first British theatre to adopt lighting techniques, including "dimmer" lights, invented in the US. The theatrical newspaper The Era reported on the interior of the theatre:
Exquisite taste is shown in the decoration of Miss Gertrude Kingston’s Little Theatre, in John Street, Adelphi. The lines are of classical simplicity, and the colours soft and restful to the eye. One passes through the "Adams" vestibule into a lovely little foyer ... The auditorium is of Wedgwood blue, with a couple of medallions in white on the walls, while the rich red of the curtain takes away any possible suggestion of chilliness. ... The stalls are square in shape and exceedingly comfortable ... Altogether the Little Theatre is a gem.Kingston had intended to open with Pains and Penalties, a new play by Laurence Housman, but the official censor declined to license its production because the theme – the divorce of George IV and Caroline of Brunswick – was uncomplimentary to the royal family. Instead, the theatre opened with Housman's translation in rhyming verse of Aristophanes' Lysistrata.
Lillah McCarthy took over the management of the Little Theatre in 1911, although in 1912 Kingston returned to play Arkadina in The Seagull.
Notes, references and sources
Notes
- The censor later told Housman that if he removed the words "committed adultery" and "Heirs male of the last generation have not proved a conspicuous success" the piece could be licensed.
References
- Steedman, Kate. "Kingston, Gertrude (1862–1937)", Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004 (subscription or UK public library membership required)
- ^ "Lysistrata", The Era, 15 October 1910, p. 17
- "Public Amusements", Lloyd's Weekly Newspaper, 2 October `1910, p. 11
- Housman, p. 7
- "The Seagull", The Era, 6 April 1912, p. 13
Sources
External links
51°30′33″N 0°7′23″W / 51.50917°N 0.12306°W / 51.50917; -0.12306
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