The Old Vic history

On the 11th of May 1818, the theatre was opened after a cost of £12,000 to build architect Rudolph Cabanel’s design. It was named the Royal Coburg Theatre and much of the material to build it was reclaimed from the original Savoy Place Theatre on the Strand. In 1821, legendary stage actor of the time Edmund Kean played Richard III, Othello, Macbeth and King Lear over six nights.

In 1834, the theatre was renamed The Royal Victoria, in honour of Victoria, Duchess of Kent and mother of Princess Victoria, who was yet to become Queen. In 1858, an unknown audience member started to shout ‘Fire!’, which caused a stampede in the theatre’s upper gallery and led to the death of 16 people. Bought by new owners in 1871, the theatre was given a complete interior reconstruction by architect Jethro T. Robinson. This work included the removal of the upper gallery level. It was then renamed again as The New Victoria Palace Theatre.

In 1898, a 23-year-old Lilian Baylis was appointed as the new theatre manager of the Old Vic Theatre. Baylis promoted the idea of opera in English by staging The Bohemian Girl. The Old Vic Shakespeare Company was formed under director Ben Greet. Over the course of seven years, Baylis mounted the complete First Folio of Shakespeare’s works, the first undertaking of its kind by a theatre. Baylis adopted the name The Old Vic, a popular local nickname, as the theatre’s official title.

1933
saw Tyrone Guthrie’s first season as director. He established an acting company with the likes of Michael Redgrave and Edith Evans in the group. Then, in 1936, Alec Guinness and Laurence Olivier join the company and Guthrie was appointed permanent director.

When World War II began, the theatre was closed and the company was relocated to the New Theatre. On 10 May 1941, a direct hit by a bomb from a German aircraft damaged the Old Vic Theatre. On 14 November 1950, the theatre was finally re-opened with a performance of Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night.

In 1976, the National Theatre Company moved to its new home on the South Bank and the theatre was opened up to visiting companies. The first such production was John Webster’s revenge tragedy The White Devil, staring Glenda Jackson.

The theatre was put up for sale in 1983 and, through a sealed bid, Canadian entrepreneur Ed Mirvish won over impresario Andrew Lloyd Webber. Mirvish spent £2.5m restoring the building, even winning architectural awards. After many years of successful productions the Mirvish family put the theatre back on the market in 1998. The Old Vic Theatre Trust in 2000 acquires it and the first production under the trust was Amadeus directed by Peter Hall, starring David Suchet and Michael Sheen. This production was nominated for five Olivier Awards.

In 2003, the Old Vic Theatre became a producing house once again, this time under artistic director Kevin Spacey. The Old Vic is now renowned for its brilliant revivals, attracting the biggest directors and star actors.