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The Theatre Royal, Drury Lane, commonly known as Drury Lane, a West End theatre, is a Grade I listed building in Covent Garden, London. The building faces Catherine Street (earlier named Bridges or Brydges Street) and backs onto Drury Lane. The building is the most recent in a line of four theatres which were built at the same location, the earliest of which dates back to 1663, making it the oldest theatre site in London still in use. According to the author Peter Thomson, for its first two centuries, Drury Lane could "reasonably have claimed to be London's leading theatre".〔Thomson p. 309.〕 For most of that time, it was one of a handful of patent theatres, granted monopoly rights to the production of "legitimate" (meaning spoken plays, rather than opera, dance, concerts, or plays with music) drama in London. The first theatre on the site was built at the behest of Thomas Killigrew in the early 1660s, when theatres were allowed to reopen during the English Restoration. Initially known as "Theatre Royal in Bridges Street", the theatre's proprietors hired a number of prominent actors who performed at the theatre on a regular basis, including Nell Gwyn and Charles Hart. In 1672 the theatre caught fire and Killigrew built a larger theatre on the same plot, renamed the "Theatre Royal in Drury Lane"; it opened in 1674. This building lasted nearly 120 years, under the leaderships of Colley Cibber, David Garrick and Richard Brinsley Sheridan, the last of whom employed Joseph Grimaldi as the theatre's resident Clown. In 1791, under Sheridan's management, the building was demolished to make way for a larger theatre which opened in 1794. This new Drury Lane survived for 15 years before burning down in 1809. The building that stands today opened in 1812. It has been the residency of a number of well known actors including; Edmund Kean, comedian Dan Leno, and the musical composer and performer Ivor Novello. From the Second World War, the theatre has primarily hosted long runs of musicals, including ''Oklahoma!'' (1947–1953), ''My Fair Lady'' (1958–1963), ''42nd Street'' (1984–1989) and ''Miss Saigon'' (1989–1999), the theatre's longest-running show.〔 The theatre is owned by the composer Andrew Lloyd Webber. == First theatre: Theatre Royal, Bridges Street (1663) == After the eleven-year-long Puritan Interregnum, which had seen the banning of pastimes regarded as frivolous, such as theatre, the English monarchy was restored to the throne with the return of Charles II in 1660. Soon after, Charles issued Letters Patent to two parties licensing the formation of new acting companies. One of these went to Thomas Killigrew, whose company became known as the King's Company, and who built a new theatre in Drury Lane. The Letters Patent also granted the two companies a shared monopoly on the public performance of legitimate drama in London; this monopoly was challenged in the 18th century by new venues and by a certain slipperiness in the definition of "legitimate drama," but remained legally in place until 1843. The new playhouse, architect unknown, opened on 7 May 1663 and was known from the placement of the entrance as the "Theatre Royal in Bridges Street."〔The single roadway now named Catherine Street was for most of its history named Catherine Street in its southern portion and Bridges (or Brydges) street in its northern.〕 It went by other names as well, including the "King's Playhouse." The building was a three-tiered wooden structure, long and wide; it could hold an audience of 700.〔.〕 Set well back from the broader streets, the theatre was accessed by narrow passages between surrounding buildings.〔Hartnoll. See also this (scale reconstruction ), crediting Richard Leacroft, ''The Development of the English Playhouse'', Eyre Methuen Ltd 1973, p. 83.〕 The King himself frequently attended the theatre's productions, as did Samuel Pepys, whose private diaries provide much of what we know of London theatre-going in the 1660s. The day after the Theatre Royal opened, Pepys attended a performance of Francis Beaumont and John Fletcher's ''The Humorous Lieutenant''. He has this to say in his diary: Performances usually began at 3 pm to take advantage of the daylight: the main floor for the audience, the pit, had no roof in order to let in the light. A glazed dome was built over the opening, but according to one of Pepys' diary entries, the dome was not entirely effective at keeping out the elements: he and his wife were forced to leave the theatre to take refuge from a hail storm.〔Beauclerk p. 60.〕 Green baize cloth covered the benches in the pit and served to decorate the boxes, additionally ornamented with gold-tooled leather, and even the stage itself.〔Spiers, (Theatres ).〕 The backless green benches in the pit were in a semicircular arrangement facing the stage, according to a May 1663 letter from one Monsieur de Maonconys: "All benches of the pit, where people of rank also sit, are shaped in a semi-circle, each row higher than the next."〔Spiers, (Theatres ), citing 〕 The three galleries formed a semicircle around the floor seats; both the first and second galleries were divided up into boxes.〔Macqueen-Pope, p. 33〕 The King's Company was forced with some reluctance to commission the technically advanced and expensive Theatre Royal playhouse by the success of the rival Duke's Company, which was drawing fascinated crowds with their "moveable" or "changeable" scenery and visually gorgeous productions at the former Lisle's Tennis Court at Lincoln's Inn Fields.〔Dobbs pp. 26–28〕〔Langhans p. 16〕 Imitating the innovations at Lincoln's Inn Fields, the Theatre Royal also featured moveable scenery with wings or ''shutters'' that could be smoothly changed between or even within acts. When not in use, the shutters rested out of sight behind the sides of the proscenium arch, which also served as a visual frame for the on-stage happenings.〔Dobbs p. 41〕 The picture-frame-like separation between audience and performance was a new phenomenon in English theatre, though it had been found on the Continent earlier. However, theatre design in London remained ambivalent about the merits of the "picture-box" stage, and for many decades to come, London theatres including Drury Lane had large forestages protruding beyond the arch,〔Kliman, p. xvii.〕 often including the thrust stages found in the Elizabethan theatres. The players could still step forward and bridge the distance between performer and audience, and in addition, it was not unusual for audience members to mount the stage themselves.〔("A History of a Night at the Theatre" ), Victoria and Albert Museum website, retrieved 14 March 2015〕 Killigrew's investment in the new playhouse put the two companies on a level as far as technical resources were concerned, but the offerings at the Theatre Royal nevertheless continued to be dominated by actor-driven "talk" drama, contrasting with William Davenant's baroque spectacles and operas at Lincoln's Inn Fields.〔Milhous pp. 15–26.〕 Internal power structures were the main reason for this difference: while Davenant skilfully commanded a docile young troupe, Killigrew's authority over his veteran actors was far from absolute.〔"Apparently the King's Company had no strong, centralized management ... Of course Killigrew would have had trouble getting Mohun's troupe to accept the kind of absolute control Davenant was able to impose upon his fledglings. But squabbles over management and shares were to characterize the King's Company throughout its stormy career, and ultimately they led to its downfall" (Milhous p. 12).〕 Experienced actors Michael Mohun (who Pepys called "the best actor in the world"〔Dobbs p. 26〕) and Charles Hart held out for shares and good contracts in the King's Company. Such a division of power between the patentee, Killigrew, and his chief actors led to frequent conflicts that hampered the Theatre Royal as a business venture.〔Dobbs pp. 52–54, 58〕 The theatre's strong actors and their insistence on dialogue and literary quality over ornament and visual effects were good for the rebirth and development of English drama, as was the competition between the King's Company and the Duke's.〔Hume (1976), pp. 20–21〕 It was mostly at the struggling Theatre Royal, rather than at the efficiently run Lincoln's Inn Fields, that the plays were acted that are classics today. This applies especially to the new form Restoration comedy, dominated in the 1660s by William Wycherley and the Theatre Royal's house dramatist John Dryden. Actors such as Hart and Charles II's mistress Nell Gwyn developed and refined the famous scenes of repartee, banter and flirtation in Dryden's and Wycherley's comedies,〔Dobbs pp. 38–42〕 Another factor in the direction the drama took at this time was the appearance of actresses for the first time on the British stage.〔Dobbs, p. 27〕 Their presence encouraged playwrights to focus on outspoken female characters, daring love scenes, and provocative breeches roles. The Great Plague of London struck in the summer of 1665, and the Theatre Royal, along with all other public entertainment, was shut down by order of the Crown on 5 June. It remained closed for 18 months until the autumn of 1666, during which time it received at least a little interior renovation, including widening of the stage.〔Pepys' 19 March 1666 s:Diary of Samuel Pepys/1666/March#19th describes a visit to the play house during the renovations, noting "God knows when they will begin to act again." For the royal order closing the playhouses see Latham & Matthews 'Diary of Samuel Pepys,' vol vii (1666), p. 76 note 5.〕 Located well to the west of the City boundary, the theatre was unaffected by the Great Fire of London, which raged through the City in September 1666, but it burned down six years later on 25 January 1672.〔Dobbs p. 51〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Theatre Royal, Drury Lane」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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