Theatre Royal Haymarket

The Theatre Royal Haymarket is also known and the Haymarket Theatre or the Little Theatre. In its early days of the 1700s, it was known for producing plays that parodied famous people in caricatures on stage. This was a dangerous business, as most of the people its actors played into characters were politicians. For example, in 1737 the Theatre was actually closed under the Licensing Act, when performer Henry Fielding produced a play that included a character strikingly similar to the Prime Minister of the day. Later in the 1700s, having regained its reputation with the famous of society, the King himself came to a showing. Tragically, on that day in 1794, such a crowd gathered and clambered to see His majesty, that a stampede began and 20 people died in the fray. Yet the Theatre Royal Haymarket has also seen many fortunate firsts too. A play named Our American Cousin enacted here in 1862 actually brought the word dreary into common use for the first time in England. Oscar Wilde premiered his first comedy at the theatre – named A Woman of No Importance. The Theatre was even the first place to introduce matinees. In 1873 it scheduled a showing at 2pm, a trend which soon caught on in every theatre in London!