Theatre Royal

The Theatre Royal, originally Landport Hall, is a theatre located on Guildhall Walk, Portsmouth. It was built as Landport Hall in 1854 and converted to a theatre in 1856. The building was substantially rebuilt in 1884 by C.J. Phipps and subsequently reconstructed in 1900 by Frank Matcham, with restoration work undertaken from 1980. The theatre is constructed of grey and red brick in English bond, with stone dressings and an iron balcony, and has a Welsh slated hipped roof.

The exterior features a three-story facade with an attic at the centre, arranged in five bays. A projecting two-story iron and glass shelter with curved ends is prominent across the front, featuring arcaded openings, fretted round arches, iron Corinthian columns, and basket-arched openings at each end. The first floor has paired windows with two-leaf fixed casements set under round iron arches. Balustraded balconies are present on the return sides and within the recessed curved wings. The ground floor facade is faced in black marble, with six two-leaf entrance doors containing moulded panels and glazed upper sections. Rusticated stone quoin strips and fluted stone Corinthian pilasters are visible on the first floor. The second floor features six two-leaf six-pane casements within stone architraves and pediments. An entablature and moulded stone eaves cornice top the facade, with a dentilled pediment in the centre containing relief carvings and a half-round attic casement.

The interior, largely dating from the 1900 reconstruction, retains its original and unaltered nautical-themed decoration. This includes seafaring emblems such as ship prows, Dolphin’s anchors, mermaids, lifebelts, and shells in the dress circle, alongside military emblems in the upper circle.