Brief History of London Theatre

The first playhouse in London was made at Shoreditch in 1576 and had the completely suitable name of The Theatre. previous to this, plays had been done in unplanned venues such as courtyards, inn-yards or spacious private homes. When the lease on The Theatre ran out in 1597, its productive owner Richard Burbage transported its timber across the Thames and used it to make the first (of three) Globe theatre on the South Bank. The Globe opened in 1599 with a company led by Burbage, who recognized himself as the first of London’s great actor/impresarios. Burbage was the first gentleman to play Hamlet, King Lear and Othello. The famous venues for theatres in London are Dury Lane, David Garrick, Today's West End,