Theater Royal (Cork)
| Theater Royal Cork | |
| location | |
| Address: | George's Street (now Oliver Plunkett Street) |
| City: | Cork |
| Coordinates: | 51 ° 53 '52 " N , 8 ° 28' 14" W |
| Architecture and history | |
| Opened: | July 21, 1760 |
| Spectator: | 2,000 seats |
| Architects: | unknown (1760), unknown (reconstruction after fire 1853), John Benson (renovation 1867) |
| Converted to a post office in 1875 | |
The Theater Royal was a patent theater in the Irish city of Cork .
history
In 1736 a Theater Royal was opened as an offshoot of Dublin's Smock Alley Theater . Located on George's Street (now Oliver Plunkett Street) at the corner of Princess Street, it served Cork for over 20 years. As the population of Cork increased rapidly in the 18th century, the theater soon became too small and the new theater was built on the same street, a little further east.
In 1758 the new Crow Street Theater was opened in Dublin (which later became the Theater Royal ). It was directed by Irish actor Spranger Barry . He also had the ambitious aim of taking over the management of all Irish theaters. He also made "the proposal for a new theater [in Cork] which is increasingly becoming the second [big] city in Ireland".
The construction of the new theater was financed by 40 shares of 50 pounds each, which interested Cork businessmen subscribed. The designs were then created at the Crow Street Theater in Dublin. The building was completed in 1760 and marked "the largest playhouse in eighteenth century Ireland outside of Dublin". The house received the royal patent and was henceforth called the Theater Royal. On July 21, 1760 it was opened with the play "The Orphan" by Thomas Otway . Barry's new theater produced six Shakespeare plays and nine other classical pieces during that opening season . The Theater Royal "provided the south of Ireland with a much greater range of theater entertainment than was previously known". As the eighteenth century progressed, the Theater Royal on George's Street developed a positive reputation for staging interesting plays, and Clark notes that “between 1760 and 1800, every English stage star who appeared in Ireland sooner or later appeared on the boards who played George's Street ”.
On April 1, 1840, a fire destroyed the house to the ground. But it was rebuilt in 1853. It was completely renovated in the 1860s by Irish architect John Benson and reopened on December 26, 1867.
The last performances given were by James Sheridan Knowles '; Virginius ; by William Shakespeare : Hamlet and John Wilson : Belphegor .
In 1875 the theater was sold to the Irish Post Office and opened after renovation in 1877 as the “ General Post Office ”, or GPO for short.
Description of the theater
In 1867 The Illustrated London News wrote :
“The theater is constructed in such a way that it can hold two thousand people and is divided into two tiers of boxes, a spacious orchestra pit, parquet seats, private boxes and a spacious gallery . From the latter one has a magnificent view of the stage, while the box-goers were protected from the “Olympus” of the gallery - an important consideration in a city where criticism of the gallery [ in the cheap places in the gallery was usually loud and vulgar ] was unduly expanded to include the better-dressed class of visitors. Particular attention was paid to the construction of the staircases, salons and offices [...] "
Individual evidence
- ^ The New Theater Royal, Cork (picture) .
- ^ A b William Smith Clark, "The Irish stage in the county towns 1720-1800" (Oxford, 1965) p. 80
- ^ The Gentleman's Magazine April 12, 1840 in Google Book Search
- ↑ Kieran McCarthy: Little Book of Cork . History Press. September 7, 2015.
- ^ 1867 - Theater Royal, Cork - Architecture of Cork City, Lost Buildings of Ireland - Archiseek - Irish Architecture . January 15, 2011.
- ↑ The 'Polopticomorama': Bringing the American Civil War to Life in Irish Theaters, 1863 . October 9, 2015.
- ↑ Description of the Illustrated London News from 1867 (PDF, 26 kB)