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 the old curtain wall of Holywell Priory. 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

Frankie Howerd

Frankie Howerd

Comedian and actor. Born Francis Alick Howard in York. He started entertaining whilst serving in the army in WW2 during which time he changed the spelling of his surname, 'to be different'. After a...

Person, Cinema, Theatre, TV & Radio

1 memorial
Rik Mayall

Rik Mayall

Actor, comedian and writer. Born Richard Michael Mayall in Epping. He was part of the 'alternative comedy' wave in the early 1980s, and appeared in 'The Comic Strip' and 'The Young Ones' and later ...

Person, Cinema, Humour, Theatre, TV & Radio

2 memorials
W. B. Yeats

W. B. Yeats

Poet and dramatist. Born in Dublin to John Butler Yeats.  A member of The Rhymers' Club. Died in Roquebrune, France.

Person, Poetry, Seriously Famous, Theatre, France, Ireland

6 memorials
Lyceum Theatre

Lyceum Theatre

A theatre with this name has been in the locality since 1765. The present site opened on 14th July 1834 to a design by Samuel Beazley. In 1904 the facade and portico were retained but the main buil...

Building, Theatre

1 memorial
John Heminge

John Heminge

Fellow actor and friend of William Shakespeare and Henry Condell. Heminge and Condell had been co-partners with Shakespeare in the Globe Theatre. On his death the plays existed only in the form of...

Person, Theatre

1 memorial

Previously viewed

Rudolf Nureyev

Rudolf Nureyev

W8, Victoria Road, 27

Rudolf Nureyev, 1938 - 1993, ballet dancer, lived here. English Heritage

1 subject commemorated, 1 creator
C. B. Fry - Croydon

C. B. Fry - Croydon

CR0, St James's Road, 144

C. B. Fry, 1872 - 1956, all-round sportsman, was born here. English Heritage

1 subject commemorated, 1 creator
Richard Holliday

Richard Holliday

Sculptor. Born Cambridge. From Thompson Gallery: "Richard Holliday started his career in stone as an apprentice stonemason in Cambridge in 1980 and has been in Cornwall since 1994."

Person, Sculpture

1 memorial
George Barret Jr

George Barret Jr

Water colour painter.  Born Orchard Street, in December 1767, the third son of George Barret (1732-1784) and Frances Barret née Percy, about four years after his father's arrival from Dublin. Two b...

Person, Art

1 memorial
Vauxhall Gardens

Vauxhall Gardens

A pleasure garden and one of the leading venues for public entertainment in Georgian London for over 60 years. Originally known as New Spring Gardens, the site is believed to have opened before th...

Place, Music / songs, Theatre

1 memorial