Old Vic Theatre

OLD VIC THEATRE

Built in 1816–18 to the design of Rudolph Cabanel of Aachen, the Old Vic Theatre stands on Waterloo Road, SE1. It has undergone successive remodelling campaigns: in 1871 by J T Robinson; in 1880 and 1902 by Elijah Hoole when it became the Royal Victoria Coffee Music Hall under Emma Cons; in 1922–3 and 1927–9 by Frank Matcham and Company (F G M Chancellor); in 1933–8 by F Green and Co; in 1950 by Pierre Sonrel; in 1960 by Sean Kenny; and a major restoration in 1983 by Renton, Howard, Wood and Levine.

The building is constructed of brick with a rendered facade to The Cut. This facade was remodelled in 1983 with an open pediment based on a circa 1818 engraving, presenting three storeys and five bays with a projecting five-bay colonnade. The Waterloo Road elevation comprises eleven bays and clearly retains its 1818 character, featuring a giant order of brick pilasters incorporating rendered roundels beneath contrasting brick arcading, with blocked first-floor windows. Large round-headed openings were created in the late 19th century when the building was adapted for shared use with Morley College. A memorial plaque to Emma Cons marks the north-west angle. The Webber Street elevation is similar, with a projecting four-bay front containing small-paned windows housing dressing rooms. The roof is asphalted with flats of 1927–8 and features a projecting haystack structure over the stage.

The interior is remarkable for the survival of Robinson's horseshoe balconies on iron columns, which retain their convex moulded fronts, cartouches and extensive moulded decoration, though the boxes are restorations by RHWL following their removal by Frank Matcham and Co. RHWL also designed the proscenium arch following remodelling in 1950 and 1960. The ceiling, with thick leaf decoration concealing ventilation ducts, is probably by Robinson, while above it Cabanel's complex system of timber roof trusses survives. The front of house was remodelled to a simplified plan by RHWL in 1983 to allow access to all theatre parts from a common entrance. The stage includes a flytower, fly floors, grid and carpenters' bay to the rear. Above this are two top-lit rooms with timber truss roofs shown on old plans as the museum and library, the latter connected to Morley College when it opened here in 1894.

The Old Vic is one of the oldest surviving theatres in England. Its auditorium is recognisably that of J T Robinson, one of the first theatre architects and first consultant architect to the Lord Chamberlain, and father-in-law to Frank Matcham. A pre-1890s theatre surviving in this condition is exceptionally rare in England; the Old Vic and Theatre Royal, Margate, represent Robinson's principal surviving works. The building holds exceptional historical significance as the progenitor of the modern subsidised theatre. It was acquired in 1879–80 by Emma Cons, the first woman Alderman of the London County Council and a social reformer and principal of the coffee tavern movement, who sought to bring purified entertainment to working and lower middle-class audiences. Her policy was expanded after 1912 by her niece Lilian Baylis, who introduced opera, operetta and Shakespeare to wider audiences. Tyrone Guthrie continued this work in the 1930s, and in 1963 the theatre became the first home of the National Theatre Company under Laurence Olivier. The Old Vic's historical significance as a leading twentieth-century centre for opera, ballet and serious theatre is exceptional in English theatre, and its listing at high grade reflects both its architectural quality and rarity.