The Patent Theatres: Drury Lane and Covent Garden
Covent Garden was originally opened in 1732. In 1792, the theatre was renovated and enlarged but it burnt down in 1808 and was rebuilt and reopened, with a capacity of three thousand people, in 1809. The auditorium and stage were lit by gaslight from 1817.
The Theatre Royal, Drury Lane first opened its doors in 1663 to house the King’s Men, under Sir Thomas Killigrew.
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At this time, it
was a small theatre, only seating about seven hundred people, but, after a fire
in 1672, it was rebuilt, opening in 1674, to seat 2000 people. By the 1790’s,
the theatre was falling apart, so the playwright Sheridan, who was the manager
at this time, decided to demolish the theatre in 1791. A third version of the
Drury Lane theatre opened in 1794 and this was a vast building, seating over
three and a half thousand people.
During the Summer months, the two patent theatres were closed, and it was during this time that the Haymarket Theatre Royal was permitted to perform legitimate drama. Haymarket opened in 1720.
Despite the fact that these three theatres alone were permitted to perform legitimate drama, they too produced melodramas. There was a very practical reason for this: all the rebuilding had enlarged and enlarged the theatres. This was very practical for getting the audiences in, but the result was that the acoustics were very poor. In other words, the actors voices could not be heard. In melodrama, it does not matter too much if some of the words cannot be heard. The important part is the spectacle, what you can see. Characters have their own musical theme which would be played when they entered. The music conveyed atmosphere and setting.
The actors were also a very long way away from the audience members and this meant that their actions could not be seen clearly either. The actors had to make their gestures larger so that they could be see clearly. Big spectacles could be clearly seen but small gestures would be missed.