Old Vic
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The exterior of the Old Vic. |
The
Old Vic is a
theatre located just south-east of
Waterloo Station in
London on the corner of
The Cut and
Waterloo Road.
It was also the name of a
repertory company that was based at the theatre, and provided the basis of the
Royal National Theatre company.
The theatre was founded in
1818 by the actor
William Barrymore as the
Royal Coburg Theatre. In
1833 it was renamed the
Royal Victorian Theatre after the heir to the throne
Princess Victoria. In
1880, under the ownership of
Emma Cons, it became
The Royal Victoria Hall And Coffee Tavern and was run on "strict
temperance lines"; by this time it was already known as the
"Old Vic".
With Emma Cons's death in
1912 the theatre passed to her niece
Lilian Baylis, who emphasized the
Shakespearean repertoire. The
Old Vic Company was established in
1929, led by
John Gielgud. Between
1925 and
1931, Lilian Baylis championed the re-building of the then-derelict
Sadler's Wells Theatre, and established a
ballet company under the direction of
Ninette de Valois. For a few years the drama and ballet companies rotated between the two theatres, with the ballet becoming permanently based at Sadler's Wells in
1935.
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Stairwell of the Old Vic. |
The Old Vic was damaged badly during
the Blitz, and the war-depleted company spent all its time touring, based in
Burnley, Lancashire at the Victoria Theatre during the years 1940 to 1943. In
1944, the company was re-established in London with
Ralph Richardson and
Laurence Olivier as its stars, perfoming mainly at the New Theatre until the Old Vic was ready to re-open in
1950. In
1946, an offshoot of the company was established in
Bristol as the
Bristol Old Vic.
In
1963, the Old Vic company was dissolved and the new
National Theatre Company, under the artistic direction of Laurence Olivier, was based at the Old Vic until its own building was opened on the
South Bank near
Waterloo Bridge in
1976.
After the departure of the NT, the Old Vic continued as a home for classic and new drama, and was significantly restored under the ownership of Toronto department-store entrepreneur
'Honest Ed' Mirvish during the 1980s. In
1998, the building was bought by a new charitable trust,
The Old Vic Theatre Trust 2000. In
2000, the production company Criterion Productions was renamed
Old Vic Productions plc, though relatively few of its productions are at the Old Vic theatre.
In
2004, the
actor Kevin Spacey was appointed as new artistic director of the
Old Vic Theatre Company receiving considerable media attention. Spacey hopes to inject new life into the British
theatre industry, and bring
British and
American theatrical talent to the stage. He will appear in two shows per season, and will perform some directorial duties on other shows.
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Old Vic Theatre official website
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Pictures and early history of Vic-Wells*
Theatre Reviews from musicOMH.com
