Two 18th century theatres bearing the name Goodman's Fields Theatre were located on

Alie Street Alie Street is a 400 metre long street located in Aldgate, East London. It links Mansell Street with Commercial Road. For much of its history, the western part was known as Great Alie Street, with the eastern part called Little Alie Street. Histo ...

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London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

. The first opened on 31 October 1727 in a small shop by Thomas Odell, deputy Licenser of Plays. The first play performed was George Farquhar's ''

The Recruiting Officer ''The Recruiting Officer'' is a 1706 play by the Irish writer George Farquhar, which follows the social and sexual exploits of two officers, the womanising Plume and the cowardly Brazen, in the town of Shrewsbury (the town where Farquhar himse ...

''.

Henry Fielding Henry Fielding (22 April 1707 – 8 October 1754) was an English novelist, irony writer, and dramatist known for earthy humour and satire. His comic novel ''Tom Jones'' is still widely appreciated. He and Samuel Richardson are seen as founders ...

's second play ''The Temple Beau'' premièred here on 26 January 1730. Upon retirement, Odell passed the management on to

Henry Giffard Henry Giffard (1694–1772) was a British stage actor and theatre manager. Early life Although there is some uncertainty about his early years, he is described as being the son of William Giffard. Born in London – in Lincoln's Inn Fields by s ...

, after a sermon was preached against the theatre at St Botolph's,

Aldgate Aldgate () was a gate in the former defensive wall around the City of London. It gives its name to Aldgate High Street, the first stretch of the A11 road, which included the site of the former gate. The area of Aldgate, the most common use of ...

.''Whitechapel'' from ''Old and New London: A Narrative of Its History, Its People and Its Places by Walter Thornbury'' (1881)
accessed 6 March 2007 Giffard operated the theatre until 1732. After he left, the theatre was used for a variety of acrobatic performances. Giffard constructed a new theatre down the street designed by Edward Shepherd who also designed the

Royal Opera House The Royal Opera House (ROH) is an opera house and major performing arts venue in Covent Garden, central London. The large building is often referred to as simply Covent Garden, after a previous use of the site. It is the home of The Royal Ope ...

, Covent Garden. The theatre opened with ''

Henry IV, Part I ''Henry IV, Part 1'' (often written as ''1 Henry IV'') is a history play by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written no later than 1597. The play dramatises part of the reign of King Henry IV of England, beginning with the battle at ...

'', 2 October 1732 that included actors Thomas Walker, Richard Yates and Henry Woodward. A dispute at the Drury Lane Theatre bought the actress Sarah Thurmond and her husband to the theatre. With the passing of the Licensing Act of 1737, the theatre was forced to close. Giffard rented Lincoln's Inn Fields Theatre briefly and then, with various political machinations, was able to reopen Goodman's Fields in 1740. '' The Winter's Tale'' was produced there in 1741 for the first time in over a century. The same year David Garrick made his successful début as '' Richard III''. He also staged plays of his own including the 1741 farce '' The Lying Valet''. The theatre closed 27 May 1742 and did not re-open. It was pulled down in 1746, and a further theatre built on the site, this briefly showed drama before it was converted to a warehouse and burned down in 1809. During its heyday, the poet Gray noted in a letter to a friend, that "there are a dozen dukes of a night at Goodman's Fields sometimes". The ''Oxford Companion to the Theatre'' notes that there may have been an earlier theatre named Goodman's Fields Theatre in the area around 1703.

References

location
*Hartnoll, Phyllis, ed. The Oxford Companion to the Theatre. 4th edition. London:Oxford UP, 1983. p. 342. {{Authority control Former theatres in London Theatres completed in 1727 Theatres completed in 1732 1742 disestablishments in England Former buildings and structures in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets Buildings and structures demolished in 1746