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.

Comments are provided by Facebook, please ensure you are signed in here to see them

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...

Read More

Curtain Theatre - Hewett Street

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

Read More

Other Subjects

Edgar Wallace

Edgar Wallace

Prolific writer: crime, novels, journalism, plays films. Born 7 Ashburnham Grove, Greenwich to an unmarried mother.  Adopted by a Billingsgate fish porter and wife.  Aged 18 joined the army medical...

Person, Cinema, Journalism / Publishing, Literature, Theatre

2 memorials
Tallulah Bankhead

Tallulah Bankhead

Actor. Born and died America. Unsuccessful on Broadway so in 1923 came to London and was very successful on the West End stage. She returned to America and worked in both movies and on the stage. H...

Person, Cinema, Theatre, USA

1 memorial
Boris Karloff

Boris Karloff

Actor. Born as William Henry Pratt at the house with the plaque. His acting career began in the theatre in Canada, where he adopted his stage name. Arriving in Hollywood he appeared in dozens of si...

Person, Cinema, Seriously Famous, Theatre, TV & Radio, Canada, USA

1 memorial
Theatre Royal Stratford East

Theatre Royal Stratford East

designed by architect James George Buckle in 1884. From WW1 onwards it endured periods of closure until Joan LIttlewood arrived with her Theatre Workshop Company in 1953. The image shows the theatr...

Group, Theatre

1 memorial
Tricycle Theatre / Kiln Theatre

Tricycle Theatre / Kiln Theatre

Originally opened as a home for the Wakefield Tricycle Company which started in a room behind the Pindar of Wakefield pub in King's Cross. Inside the foyer of the Tricycle Theatre/Cinema is a plaq...

Group, Theatre

1 memorial