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

East 15 Acting School

East 15 Acting School

Founded by Margaret Walker after she worked with Joan Littlewood at the Theatre Royal in Stratford, and had the same ethos of inclusivity and radical work. It was named after the postal district of...

Group, Education, Theatre

1 memorial
Professor Terry Knapp

Professor Terry Knapp

Actor, director, teacher, author. Born Hackney. Graduate of RADA. Invited by Olivier to be a founding member of the National Theatre. Professor of theatre at University of Hawaii at Manoa. Accordi...

Person, Cinema, Theatre, Hawaii

1 memorial
Oscar Wilde

Oscar Wilde

Born in Dublin as Oscar Fingal O'Flaherty Wills Wilde. 'Importance of Being Earnest', 'Picture of Dorian Gray', etc. A flamboyant aesthete, he may have been Grossmith's model for the character Bunt...

Person, Gender Issues, Literature, Poetry, Seriously Famous, Theatre, France, Ireland

7 memorials
Peggy Ashcroft

Peggy Ashcroft

Actor. Born Edith Margaret Emily Ashcroft in Croydon.

Person, Cinema, Theatre, TV & Radio

1 memorial
Dan Leno

Dan Leno

Actor and comedian. Born George Wild Galvin at 6 Eve Place, St Pancras. He first appeared on stage as a child with his parents, and in time became the star of the act. As a solo artist, he became i...

Person, Theatre

1 memorial