I introduced you to the Palais Garnier earlier in the summer, one of the most gorgeous theatres you can visit. However, London has many historic theatres that are well worth a visit. (Of course, I have to recommend visiting the Royal Opera House!) While I’m not surprised to find a theatre in Covent Garden, or in the West End, I am a tad more surprised to find a theatre… inside a museum. When I was visiting the V&A, I happened across this in the Theatre and Performance Gallery and was quite excited. Today I’m chatting about a Drury Lane Theatre model!
What Theatre?
Well-known in the English theatre world and in royal history (many actresses have caught royal eyes), the Drury Lane Theatre’s full name is the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane. The theatre is on Catherine Street in Covent Garden (with the back on Drury Lane), and there have been four different theatres in that location, dating back to the 1660s. The original theatre was home to the King’s Company, given their Letters Patent by King Charles II to spur on Restoration theatre.
A Theatre Model?
I fully admit, I’ve never seen a theatre model like this before- complete with a conductor and orchestra, boxes, and sets. Of course, I was fascinated by it, and needed to investigate further! When I searched the V&A Collections, I found an interesting story behind it: “The model of the Theatre Royal Drury Lane was made for a child actor, Renée Meyer, when she was appearing in pantomime at the theatre in about 1911. It shows the stage as it was before the reconstruction of the Drury Lane interior in 1921-22. The model is built to scale and incorporates all the working parts of the stage.”
While I’ve heard of co-stars getting child actors gifts, I’ve not heard of anything like this- it sounds the perfect gift!
Have you ever seen anything like this Drury Lane Theatre model?
Cheers,
The Historian
Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | Pinterest
