Royal Circus
| Davidge's Royal Surrey Theatre Royal Circus Royal Surrey Theatre Surrey Vaudeville Theatre Surrey Theatre of Varieties |
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Royal Circus
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| Address |
Blackfriars Road, Lambeth London |
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| Coordinates | 51°29′56″N 0°06′18″W / 51.499°N 0.105°W |
| Designation | Demolished 1934 |
| Capacity | 1865 2,161 in four tiers |
| Current use | Site occupied by modern flats |
| Construction | |
| Rebuilt | 1800 Rudolphe Carbanel 1806 Rudolphe Carbanel 1865 John Ellis 1904 Kirk and Kirk |
| Years active | 1782–1924 |
| Architect | Unknown |
The Surrey Theatre, London began life in 1782 as the Royal Circus and Equestrian Philharmonic Academy, one of the many circuses that provided contemporary London entertainment of both horsemanship and drama. It stood in Blackfriars Road, near the junction with Westminster Bridge Road, in the London Borough of Lambeth, which was then an entertainment district.
The Royal Circus was opened on 4 November 1782 by the composer and song writer, Charles Dibdin (who coined the word "circus"), aided by Charles Hughes, a well-known equestrian performer. The entertainments were at first performed by children with the goal of its being a nursery for young actors. Delphini, a celebrated buffo, became manager in 1788 and produced a spectacle including a real stag-hunt. Other animal acts followed, including the popular dog act Gelert and Victor, lecture pieces, pantomimes and local spectacles. The popular comedian John Palmer then managed the theatre until 1789, when he was committed to Horsemonger Lane Gaol as "a rogue and a vagabond".
It continued in use until 1810, although it had a troubled existence, being burnt down in 1799 and again on 12 August 1805. Rebuilt in 1806 by the German architect of the Old Vic, Rudolph Cabanel, it was converted into a theatre by Robert Elliston. He renamed it the Surrey Theatre, being determined to perform Shakespeare and other plays. He reopened on Easter Monday and to avoid trouble with the law, which did not allow dialogue to be spoken without musical accompaniment except at the two patent theatres, he put a ballet into every such production, including Macbeth, Hamlet, and Farquhar's The Beaux' Stratagem. Contemporary reviewers noted that the Lambeth streets teemed with prostitutes. Elliston left in 1814, and the Surrey became a circus again until Thomas Dibdin reopened it as a theatre in 1816. The arena where the equestrian exercises had been displayed was converted into a large pit for spectators, and the stables became saloons.Fanny Fitzwilliam and Sally Brook starred in melodramas, but the theatre had little success overall. John Baldwin Buckstone made his first London appearance at the theatre, on 30 January 1823, as Ramsay in The Fortunes of Nigel. George Holland also appeared at the theatre, in 1826.
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