Theatres (other than Hippodrome/Coventry Theatre)

The new mural of Ira Aldridge by Dreph at the Belgrade Theatre / Belgrade Plaza. Ira Aldridge: Wiki entry Dreph website Post copied from topic Street Art in Coventry on 12th Aug 2021 12:32 pm

After seeing this, I ordered a second hand copy through AbeBooks, £4.97 incl postage. Didn't expect anything special for that price, so imagine the joy this morning when I opened the package which arrived, to find a mint edition of this book.

Edit: This sculpture is by Favour Jonathan and won the Sky Arts 'Landmark' 2021 competition. Apparently there was a competition with a public vote - entries displayed in the Cathedral Ruins in May. It is called "In honour of Ira Frederick Aldridge". It's a lot more impressive when you see it in person. Ira Aldridge was a black American actor who managed the Coventry Theatre in 1828. He also has a mural on the side of the Belgrade Theatre Post copied from topic Future of IKEA building on 12th Aug 2021 12:33 pm

I love this statue and the story of its creator. It's so much bigger than I thought and I can't wait to see it in 'real life' when I can get back to the UK. Wasn't there a thread somewhere about clocks in Coventry - this surely needed to be included. Thank you, again, Brother Joybert, for your generous talent of bringing the fun and beauty of Coventry's art to us who can't be there. ps. LOVED the car show. Post copied from topic Future of IKEA building on 12th Aug 2021 2:11 pm

Ira Aldridge has been discussed on here before, He came to Coventry with a travelling group of players, the year after the plague. He was a world Shakespearian actor, only in Coventry for a few months, getting acting experience. It was the least he stayed in any town, the theatre a ramshackle building that were once stables. I believe the so-called manager died in the plague, so Ira took over for a couple of months in 1826. He was known in Stratford by a long score more than Coventry. What he did best in Coventry was to sway the crowds to back the ending of black slavery.

The Plague? Do enlighten me please? I thought that was in the Middle Ages, not the early 1800's?

Brother Joybert, in 1826 the 'plague' referred to by Kaga was the outbreak of cholera when many died.

Lindatee, Lovely story, but not real Coventry history, not as can be proved. The theatre they are all alluding to is Sir Skears Rew theatre in Smithford Street in 1818 in his very large garden. There were very few houses, we're talking 200 years ago. Now imagine if it only held fifty people, then when the show was over you would have fifty horses and cabs jostling down Smithford Street, or over Ram Bridge. Think of the confusion, the noise, yet Gutteridge doesn't mention one word, although he describes Coventry in those days brilliantly. Neither does George Eliot, who went by it every day to school, and there are others I could mention. Coventry in 1830 was about 27,000 people. Stage journal, where most of this comes from, did not start until 1880, and knew little before that date. Now this theatre to my mind would have been a "Good old days" musical hall, not a Shakespearian actor type theatre, so I need to see some proof, contract or dates of performance, etc to convince me that other history books got it wrong.

Afternoon Kaga, I think Linda was commenting on the size of the statue. There's an entire book about the theatre and the other entertainment venues in Coventry, who ran them, plus what they showed - called Coventry's Forgotten Theatre. The Theatre Royal or Empire Palace (as it was known at different times) seems to have held about 700 people on benches rather than seats. It looks like it might have shown a variety of things but it certainly had real plays like The School for Scandal and The Rivals. Down Smithford Street the Britannia Music Hall opened and might have pushed the theatre towards plays. 200 years ago there were a lot more homes in Coventry centre than there were in the 1900s. Many people would have walked to the place. Some would have been staying in the various inns and lodging houses.

Brother Joybert, good morning. The Coventry Mercury in 1825 warned the people that Coventry had the plague, the wealthy fled the city to the countryside, the Council erected scores of wooden huts for the workers in fields and large parks, to sort of isolate them. They tore down the old Bakers' Guild hall and built a vaccine unit. Just inside the city walls in Little Park Street was a small park, scores of people were buried in that park, so much so they renamed St Johns Road to Dead Lane. In 1826 the plague was still with Coventry. I have no access with old Coventry papers, but in those days Coventry had about a dozen historians or writers, not one of them says a word about the ghost theatre. Ira Aldridge came from America to London to gain experience as a Shakespearian actor, so why would he leave London to come to plague-ridden Coventry with a ghost theatre? Who came with him, where was this theatre, what show was he in, times of performances etc. Only old newspapers can tell us. Skears Rew, living in a large estate in Smithford Street and coming off four years as Coventry Mayor in 1818, built a theatre, but as far as I know never said another word about it. What he did do was invite to Coombe Abbey to meet the Prince Regent with a party of councillors. He made the party so enjoyable that the prince said, "I will make you a knight and a sir", but no one could find a sword in Coombe Abbey, so they did it with a butcher's knife, to everyone's enjoyment. Now there's more to this, if you want.

This is an excerpt of a letter written by Mr Philip E Shepherd dated 1st April 1921 in the Coventry Herald. He donated an oil painting of Skears Rew to the Coventry Corporation which had belonged to his father and had always been in the house. It was under a heading of "The year of Waterloo" ! "Sir Skears Rew built the old theatre in Smithford Street in which many Coventry people first witnessed the presentation of stage plays. Opened on Easter Monday 1819, 102 years ago exactly. It was the first permanent structure of the kind. Earlier companies having been accommodated in different parts of the city, chiefly in adapted buildings.St Mary's Hall was often used for performances, and the Drapers Hall, not the existing hall was similarly employed. Once an old gaol found room for such a purpose. In 1815, a new abode of the Thespians was provided at Spon End Mill in a place said to have been originally a barn. A hundred years ago the "Herald" did not give a great deal of space to local news, the public eye apparently, being more closely on the affairs of the world, and one of the first intimations of the Smithford Street theatre announced its existence. The news was conveyed in a letter signed "Veritas" With feelings of pleasure I congratulate your numerous readers and the public on the erection of a permanent theatre in this extensive and populous city, and which at length been accomplished under the auspices of Sir Skears Rew, it's proprietor. That this act of public spirit and liberality will meet with it's due reward cannot be questioned and the lovers of the drama will now have the opportunity of witnessing their favourite amusement in an edifice properly adapted to the purpose. It was the Windsor company which occupied the local stage for the first season lasting from Easter to August, being Brough here by Mr Penley the proprietor of the Windsor and other provincial theatres in Kent and Sussex, and the opening play was Massinger's comedy "New way to pay old debts" "An Occasional Address" written by John Skelton Esq. L.I.B. proceeded it, and the evening concluded with the laughable entertainment "The Irishman in London". The theatre was open four nights a week, Saturday being one of the excepted days. The public could not complain that the management did not sufficiently vary it's programme. On almost every night was given a different play, as well as a shorter piece"

29th February 1828, apparently Ira Aldridge's stage name was F W Keene.

Thanks for those Anne. Interesting that shows changed daily and there looks like at least two different shows a day.

Looking through the newspapers there are many adverts in the mid-19th century showing what performances are on but I am a little confused as sometimes they are for "Theatre, Coventry" and sometimes for "Theatre Royal, Coventry". Were these the same place or were there two?

Well spotted Anne. It started out as the Theatre and that changed into the Theatre Royal in about 1848. It wasn't an official change as it had no royal license and for a few years it was referred to as both names on and off. It was a cosmetic name change, simply to make the place look more grand.