Building    From 1577  To 1642

Curtain Theatre

Categories: Theatre

This, the second English purpose-built playhouse was erected very close to the first, The Theatre, and run by the same man, Burbage.  Not named for the modern drape on a proscenium arch, but for its proximity to Curtain Close, a place named itself after the nearby London Wall. Long plain sections of wall are still known to those in the know as "curtain walls".

Here, in this "wooden O", Shakespeare performed and Henry V was staged. Ceased operating somewhere between 1622 and the Civil War, 1642. In 2008, the Museum of London unearthed the footings of the Theatre and a new theatre is set to be built on the site.

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This section lists the memorials where the subject on this page is commemorated:
Curtain Theatre

Commemorated ati

Curtain Theatre - Curtain Road

On this site stood The Curtain Theatre (1577 - 1599) William Shakespeare firs...

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Curtain Theatre - Hewett Street

Near this site stood The Curtain Theatre, 1577 - c.1627, second English publi...

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Other Subjects

David Bowie

David Bowie

Musician and actor. Born David Robert Jones 40 Stansfield Road, Brixton. The family left here when David was 6 and moved to Plaistow Grove, Bromley. David changed his surname to avoid confusion wi...

Person, Cinema, Music / songs, Seriously Famous, Theatre, USA

7 memorials
Dame Joan Plowright, CBE

Dame Joan Plowright, CBE

Actor. Born Lincolnshire. Married Laurence Olivier in 1961 and survived as his widow in 1989.

Person, Cinema, Theatre

1 memorial
She Stoops to Conquer

She Stoops to Conquer

Comic play. Probably the best known work of Oliver Goldsmith. Originally entitled 'Mistakes of a Night'. The daughter of a wealthy countryman poses as a servant in order to win over her nervous sui...

Fiction, Fictional, Theatre

1 memorial
Fanny Kelly

Fanny Kelly

Actress and singer. Born Brighton. Rejected an offer of marriage from Charles Lamb, but remained friends with him and his family. Ran a small theatre, New Royalty, at 73-4 Dean Street, 1840 - 1850,...

Person, Music / songs, Theatre

1 memorial
Arthur Bourchier

Arthur Bourchier

Actor and theatre manager. Born in Speen, Berkshire. Made his first stage appearance in 1889, although his performances were met with less than critical acclaim. W. S. Gilbert said of his rendition...

Person, Cinema, Politics & Administration, Theatre, South Africa

1 memorial