Theatre Royal, Brighton: Theatre Information

Theatre Royal, Brighton

Theatre Royal
New Road,
Brighton
BN1 1SD

Box Office:
08700 606 650 (booking fee)

Groups Hotline:
08700 606 617

The Theatre Royal Brighton

The history of this beautiful Grade II listed building dates back almost 200 years. The Prince of Wales gave his Royal Assent for the building of a Theatre on the New Road site in the summer of 1806. Following this the Theatre in its original format was built in an unprecedented 10 months and first opened its doors to the public on Saturday, June 27th 1807 with a performance of Hamlet starring Charles Kemble of Drury Lane.

For the first 50 years of its life the Theatre suffered very mixed fortunes with no one manager lasting more than 18 months and the risk of financial ruin never very far away. All this was to change in 1854 when an actor named Henry John Nye Chart took over the management of the Theatre and in the ensuing 12 years turned the fortunes and the reputation of the Theatre around. At the end of this period Nye Chart was able to buy the Theatre for the princely sum of £7,500 and immediately embarked on an extensive expansion and renovation programme under the guidance of Theatre architect Charles James Phipps. As an actor Nye Chart had been unremarkable but in his success in turning an insignificant and somewhat disreputable playhouse into a locally respected institution marks him out as one of the great actor-managers of the late nineteenth century.

When Nye Chart died in 1876 he left everything he owned to his beloved wife Ellen. Ellen Elizabeth Nye Chart not only maintained the high standards set by her husband but improved on them with considerable flair and imagination. Mrs Nye Chart introduced matinees and her annual Christmas pantomimes enjoyed long and profitable runs. In 1889 she decided to form a limited company, and subsequently sold her house and the theatre to the company although she occupied the house until her death. When she died in 1892 Mrs Nye Chart was buried amid much pomp and ceremony in the Brighton and Preston Cemetery. In fact Ellen Nye Chart didn't ever really leave the Theatre as she is the Grey Lady, our Theatre ghost. A guardian spirit who watches over the Theatre, she is said to be a very benign and friendly presence and there have been numerous sightings of her.

At the end of the nineteenth century the Theatre was described as being 'in the first rank, so far as the comfort and convenience of both audience and artists are concerned' (notice to shareholders from the Directors of the Theatre 1894) and so it continued. The twentieth century saw the Theatre Royal Brighton survive the impact of two World Wars as well as the depression of the thirties. A general air of glamour and prosperity was maintained throughout the fifties and virtually every English actor and actress of note appeared at the Theatre Royal Brighton during those years. In 1959 the Queen made the first of several private visits to the Theatre, continuing the strong tradition of Royal visits.

The Theatre Royal has always, until recently, existed as a privately owned operation but the death of Chairman David Land, a distinguished London impresario, saw the beginning of a new chapter in the Theatre's history. The Ambassador Theatre Group (ATG), the second biggest Theatre operator in the UK, acquired the Theatre from the Land family in June 1999 bringing expertise, experience and investment to this historic institution. Owners of a growing stable of regional and London Theatres, ATG has re-established the venue's position as one of the most favoured pre West End dates.

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