The Old Vic
The Old Vic traces its origins to 1818, when this theatre opened as the Royal Coburg Theatre, then took the name Royal Victoria Theatre in 1833. In 1871 it was rebuilt and reopened as the Royal Victoria Palace, and by 1880 Emma Cons had taken over and the venue was formally called the Royal Victoria Hall—though the working nickname “Old Vic” was already in use. Lilian Baylis, Cons’s niece, assumed management in 1898 and helped drive a sequence of Shakespeare productions that took shape from 1914 onward. The building has also been tested by war: air raids damaged it in 1940, and it later returned to public life well enough to receive Grade II* listed status in 1951. This theatre matters beyond its 1,000-seat auditorium because it has repeatedly acted as a London “crucible” for artists and companies. It even gave its name to a repertory company that formed part of the National Theatre of Great Britain in 1963 under Laurence Olivier.
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