The Theatre Royal stands on the oldest site in the world to have been continually used as a playhouse.
The first theatre built on that spot was erected in 1663 and burnt in 1672. The next one, designed by Christopher Wren, opened in 1674. In a third theatre with a capacity of 3,611, was built until it burnt down in 1809. The theatre that stands on the site today was opened in 1812 with money raised in part by Lord Byron. The theatre’s most seen ghost is ‘The Man in Grey' dressed in long riding cloak, boots and three-cornered hat, said to haunt the Upper Circle, particularly during matinees. He is supposed to have been killed in a stage fight in the 18th Century. Workmen digging away at a wall as part of a refurbishment project found the skeleton of a man, dating from this period, with a dagger in his ribs, so perhaps the ghost story is well founded.. |
