The Theatre Royal, Drury Lane, commonly known as Drury Lane, is a West End theatre in Covent Garden, in the London borough of Westminster. The building faces Catherine Street and backs onto Drury Lane. The current 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. For its first two centuries, Drury Lane could "reasonably have claimed to be London's leading theatre". For most of that time, it was one of a handful of patent theatres, granted monopoly rights to the production of "legitimate" drama in London.
The first theatre on the site was built at the behest of Thomas Killigrew in the early years of the English Restoration. Initially known as "Theatre Royal in Bridges Street", its 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, designed by Sir Christopher Wren; 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.
Theatre Royal, Drury Lane
Get involved with shows at Theatre Royal, Drury Lane:
- The Visit is holding auditions: in Random Location 4 from 19:30 to 19:30 on Fri 26th Apr - more details
- Bye Bye Birdie is holding auditions: in Random Location 1 from 14:00 to 14:00 on Sat 27th Apr - more details
- Our Town is holding auditions: in Random Location 46 from 14:30 to 14:30 on Tue 30th Apr - more details
- Our Town is looking for: Master Carpenter, Publicity Designer, Sound Designer - more details
- Gypsy: A Musical Fable is looking for: Sound Designer, Costume Designer, Lighting Designer, Technical Director, Director, Master Carpenter, Publicity Designer, Production Manager, Set Designer - more details
- Into the Woods is looking for: Set Designer, Publicist, Technical Director, Sound Designer, Production Manager, Costume Designer, Lighting Designer - more details
- Into the Woods has announced: Random text 58 - more details
- The Winter's Tale has announced: Random text 19 - more details
- Gypsy: A Musical Fable has announced: Random text 95 - more details
- The Visit has announced: Random text 81 - more details
News
Theatre Royal, Drury Lane
05:52 on 22nd April
Hi @Camdram! Theatre Royal, Drury Lane is excited to announce Who's Afraid of St John's.
Theatre Royal, Drury Lane
12:49 on 20th April
Hi @Camdram! Theatre Royal, Drury Lane has some great news! We're performing Pirates of Amsterdam.
Theatre Royal, Drury Lane
08:11 on 15th April
Hi @Camdram! Theatre Royal, Drury Lane wants you to buy tickets for Pirates of the Van of Life.
Theatre Royal, Drury Lane
17:11 on 12th April
Theatre Royal, Drury Lane wants you to buy tickets for A Streetcar Named Amsterdam.
Theatre Royal, Drury Lane
06:18 on 10th April
Theatre Royal, Drury Lane wants you to buy tickets for The End of Addenbrooke's.
Theatre Royal, Drury Lane
21:58 on 7th April
Hi @Camdram! Theatre Royal, Drury Lane wants you to buy tickets for Much Ado About Panto.
Theatre Royal, Drury Lane
23:25 on 3rd April
Hi @Camdram! Theatre Royal, Drury Lane is excited to announce Three Men in the Van of Life.
Theatre Royal, Drury Lane
10:12 on 3rd April
Theatre Royal, Drury Lane has a really very long post. Rehersals are well underway for our very exciting new show. We're sure you'll want to hear all about it, and maybe come see it! So anyway our latest show is Waiting for the Van of Life.
Theatre Royal, Drury Lane
15:33 on 1st April
Hi @Camdram! Theatre Royal, Drury Lane has some great news! We're performing Waiting for Week 5.
Shows
- Sun 19 May
- Mon 20 May
- Tue 21 May
- Wed 22 May
- Thu 23 May
- Fri 24 May
- Sat 25 May
- Sun 8 Sep
- Mon 9 Sep
- Tue 10 Sep
- Wed 11 Sep
- Thu 12 Sep
- Fri 13 Sep
- Sat 14 Sep
- Sun 22 Sep
- Mon 23 Sep
- Tue 24 Sep
- Wed 25 Sep
- Thu 26 Sep
- Fri 27 Sep
- Sat 28 Sep
- Sun 29 Sep
- Mon 30 Sep
- Tue 1 Oct
- Wed 2 Oct
- Thu 3 Oct
- Fri 4 Oct
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- Sun 6 Oct
- Mon 7 Oct
- Tue 8 Oct
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- Thu 10 Oct
- Fri 11 Oct
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- Sun 13 Oct
- Mon 14 Oct
- Tue 15 Oct
- Wed 16 Oct
- Thu 17 Oct
- Fri 18 Oct
- Sat 19 Oct
- Sun 20 Oct
- Mon 21 Oct
- Tue 22 Oct
- Wed 23 Oct
- Thu 24 Oct
- Fri 25 Oct
- Sat 26 Oct
- Sun 15 Dec
- Mon 16 Dec
- Tue 17 Dec
- Wed 18 Dec
- Thu 19 Dec
- Fri 20 Dec
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- Sun 22 Dec
- Mon 23 Dec
- Tue 24 Dec
- Wed 25 Dec
- Thu 26 Dec
- Fri 27 Dec
- Sat 28 Dec
- Sun 29 Dec
- Mon 30 Dec
- Tue 31 Dec
- Wed 1 Jan
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- Tue 7 Jan
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- Tue 14 Jan
- Wed 15 Jan
- Thu 16 Jan
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- Sat 18 Jan
- Sun 16 Feb
- Mon 17 Feb
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- Fri 21 Feb
- Sat 22 Feb
- Sun 23 Feb
- Mon 24 Feb
- Tue 25 Feb
- Wed 26 Feb
- Thu 27 Feb
- Fri 28 Feb
- Sat 29 Feb
Past shows
See all the shows that have been performed here at the venue history page.