The King Street Theatre was the first purpose-built

theatre Theatre or theater is a collaborative form of performing art that uses live performers, usually actors to present experiences of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place, often a Stage (theatre), stage. The performe ...

to open in

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands (county), West Midlands, within the wider West Midlands (region), West Midlands region, in England. It is the Lis ...

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

. The town had had earlier theatres, but the Theatre in Smallbrook Street, whose origins dated back to 1715, and Theatre in New Street, which was in an existence a few years later, were both makeshift structures; and the more substantial

Moor Street Theatre The Moor Street Theatre was the first regular theatre – as distinct from earlier booths and converted barns for strolling players – to be established in Birmingham, England. Located in a back yard between Moor Street and Park Street north of th ...

, which opened in 1740, was a conversion of an existing building. King Street was a much more ambitious undertaking, being based on the examples of the established

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

patent theatre The patent theatres were the theatres that were licensed to perform "spoken drama" after the Restoration of Charles II as King of England, Scotland and Ireland in 1660. Other theatres were prohibited from performing such "serious" drama, but ...

s. The theatre opened on 25 September 1751 with its first performance being a "Shakespeare Night and Concert of Vocal and Instrumental Musicians". Seats in a

box A box (plural: boxes) is a container with rigid sides used for the storage or transportation of its contents. Most boxes have flat, parallel, rectangular sides (typically rectangular prisms). Boxes can be very small (like a matchbox) or v ...

cost 3 shillings, in the pit they cost 2 shillings, and in the gallery 1 shilling. Performances started at 7pm and, like its predecessor in Moor Street, the season lasted from early June until the end of September. King Street was built for the actor-manager Richard Yates – then at the peak of his fame at London's

Theatre Royal, Drury Lane The Theatre Royal, Drury Lane, commonly known as Drury Lane, is a West End theatre and listed building, Grade I listed building in Covent Garden, London, England. The building faces Catherine Street (earlier named Bridges or Brydges Street) an ...

– after his highly successful visit to Birmingham the previous year with "a company who announced themselves 'His Majesty's Servants, from the theatres royal, in London'". By 1760 the King Street Theatre was under the direction of Thomas Hull and its regular patrons included Hull's close friend

William Shenstone William Shenstone (18 November 171411 February 1763) was an English poet and one of the earliest practitioners of History of gardening#Picturesque and English Landscape gardens, landscape gardening through the development of his estate, ''The ...

, one of the recognised leaders of local society in the era of the

Midlands Enlightenment The Midlands Enlightenment, also known as the West Midlands Enlightenment or the Birmingham Enlightenment, was a scientific, economic, political, cultural and legal manifestation of the Age of Enlightenment that developed in Birmingham and the wid ...

. King Street hosted the premiere of an original play when Hull's ''Henry II; or, Tha Fall of Rosamond'' was written and performed at Shenstone's instigation on 28 August 1761, over a decade before premieres at

Bristol Bristol () is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city, unitary authority area and ceremonial county in South West England, the most populous city in the region. Built around the River Avon, Bristol, River Avon, it is bordered by t ...

in 1775,

Richmond Richmond most often refers to: * Richmond, British Columbia, a city in Canada * Richmond, California, a city in the United States * Richmond, London, a town in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames, England * Richmond, North Yorkshire, a town ...

in 1776,

Manchester Manchester () is a city and the metropolitan borough of Greater Manchester, England. It had an estimated population of in . Greater Manchester is the third-most populous metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, with a population of 2.92&nbs ...

in 1778 and

York York is a cathedral city in North Yorkshire, England, with Roman Britain, Roman origins, sited at the confluence of the rivers River Ouse, Yorkshire, Ouse and River Foss, Foss. It has many historic buildings and other structures, such as a Yor ...

in 1779 provide evidence of such creative activity taking place in other towns outside London. By June 1762 Hull maintaining a

theatre company Theatre or theater is a collaborative form of performing art that uses live performers, usually actors to present experiences of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place, often a Stage (theatre), stage. The performe ...

at King Street with

Joseph Younger Joseph Younger (July 1, 1894 – May 16, 1932) was an architect who lived and practiced in Washington, D.C., and is especially notable for his designs of the Kennedy–Warren Apartment Building on Connecticut Avenue Northwest (Washington, D.C.), ...

, who was to retain his connection with the theatre until 1779, The Moor Street Theatre was increasingly unable to compete and closed in 1763, leaving King Street unchallenged as Birmingham's leading theatre for the next decade.

References

Bibliography

* * * * * * * * * {{refend Former theatres in Birmingham, West Midlands Theatre companies in Birmingham, West Midlands