Royal Court Theatre

This list entry was subject to a Minor Enhancement on 01/06/2018

TQ 2878 NW 50/2

SLOANE SQUARE SW1 Royal Court Theatre

28.6.72

GV II Theatre. 1888, Walter Emden to Bertie Crewe. Interior reconstructed 1952, and altered again in 1956 and 1980. Red brick. Stone dressings. Ground floor painted. Four storeys. Three main bays. Central pediment. Applied Corinthian columns to upper floor. Outer bays with cambered pediments richly carved. Round headed windows to first and fourth floors. Balustraded parapet.

Historical note: the theatre was host to the first suffragette-themed play, ‘Votes for Women!’, which opened on 9 April 1907, and was attended by the Pankhursts. Inspired by the emerging militant campaign for women’s suffrage by the Women’s Social and Political Union (WSPU), the playwright, Elizabeth Robins, in the process of her research for the play became devoted to the cause. She gave a quarter of her royalties to the two main suffrage groups, though was not herself militant. The leading actor, Edith Wynne-Matthison, likewise came to support the campaign, and went on with Robins to found the Actresses' Franchise League in 1908.

This list entry was amended in 2018 as part of the centenary commemorations of the 1918 Representation of the People Act.

Listing NGR: TQ2808678679