The Dramatic History Of The Royal Opera House

The Royal Opera House is a great London institution and, the building itself, an ornate and eye-catching landmark in Covent Garden. For nearly 300 years now, theatre, operas, ballet and more have been performed for the London public from this spot.

The on-stage stories are naturally very dramatic, but the building itself also has a dramatic story to tell. It also has lots of interesting little details to spot.

A Theatre Is Born

The Royal Opera House sits in the North corner of the Covent Garden piazza. The piazza was laid out in the 1630s, designed by Inigo Jones, on land owned by the Earl of Bedford. It was London’s first square and was initially intended as a new, beautiful residential enclave of London of the aristocracy.

That plan, however, did not pan out. Stalls for the famous fruit, vegetable and flower market started to be set up here from the 1650s onwards. Not long afterwards, the area started to also become associated with theatre when the Theatre Royal Drury Lane opened nearby in 1663. The ‘royal’ addition to the name meant that it had a patent from the King to be able to put on dramas. With the growth of the market and the theatre, other services swiftly followed such as taverns, coffeehouses and brothels. 

In 1732, the first version of what became the Royal Opera House was built on its current site. It was called the Theatre Royal Covent Garden, so, like the Theatre Royal Drury Lane, had a patent from the King to stage dramas. It was opened by an actor/manager called John Rich, who had previously been the manager at the Lincoln’s Inn Fields Theatre and had seen great success by staging John Gay’s The Beggar’s Opera. 

In 1735, the theatre put on its first serious musical works by staging the works of George Frideric Handel. Many of Handel’s operas and oratorios were staged here for the first time. 

A Fire

The first theatre burnt down on the 20th September 1808 and it was rebuilt to the designs of Robert Smirke.

To recoup their losses the managers put the ticket prices up and areas that had previously been for the public were split up into ‘private boxes’ that could be hired for £300 a year. 

This was risky business, 18th and early 19th century Londoners were fiery. There had been previous attempts at the theatre to abolish ‘half tickets’. Half tickets were cheaper tickets that allowed you to watch just the second half of the play, often the only way maid-servants or man-servants could get to go to the theatre. When they tried to do this there were protests and the managers were forced to reintroduce them.

The Old Price Riots

In September 1809, when the theatre reopened with its increased prices, true to form, the people protested. The Old Price riots, as they became known, went on for 62 days straight.

Slogans were chanted, placards were made, one day mock fights were staged in the auditorium. On one occasion the protesters released a couple of pigs into the theatre, on another they ripped out the seats and threw them at the actors. They also came armed with props, for example, they carried a coffin into the theatre that had written upon it: ‘Here lies the body of the new price, which died of the whooping cough on 23 September 1809, aged 6 days’. 

The managers did everything they could to try and control the riots. They, for example, brought in prize-boxers from the East End of London to eject disruptive audience members. In the end they gave up, the old ticket prices were restored. 

Becoming an Opera House

For the first hundred years or so of the theatre’s history it was more associated with classic theatre and drama. However, after the Theatres Act of 1843, when the royal patent theatres lost their monopoly, competition increased and it became an opera house. In 1847, the theatre was remodelled and reopened in April of that year as the Royal Italian Opera.  

In 1858, the Royal English Opera company moved from the Drury Lane theatre to Covent Garden. It officially became the Royal Opera House in 1892. 

The Royal Opera House has seen many firsts, such as the first performances in England of Verdi’s Rigoletto, Tosca and Puccini’s Madama Butterfly. 

Stepping Into The Light 

In the 18th century, theatres were generally lit by hundreds of candles. This was replaced with gas lighting in the 1810s. 

In the 1820s a new way of lighting the stage was pioneered. A flame of hydrogen and oxygen, first discovered by the fabulously named chemist Sir Goldsworthy Gurney, was used to burn quicklime. This produced a strong beam of light, which was then focussed with a lens.

This was used as a way of lighting the stage for the first time at the Covent Garden theatre in 1837. Known as ‘limelight’, it was generally used to light up the the principal actor, so is where we get the phrase ‘in the limelight’ from. 

The Current Theatre

The changes to lighting, however, did not stop the theatre burning down again in 1856. This was after a disorderly masked ball, organised by a conjuror and pantomime artist called JH Anderson. He was known as the ‘Wizard of the North’ and is said to have already previously burnt down two theatres.

It was rebuilt in 1858, designed by Edward Middleton Barry. 

He also designed the stunning adjacent Floral Hall, as part of the flower market of Covent Garden. It was also used for balls and events. 

In the First World War, the theatre was requisitioned by the Government to use for furniture storage. In the Second World War the Royal Opera House was used as a dance hall. 

A Modern Transformation

A major refurbishment took place at the theatre in the late 1990s and the Floral Hall was entirely reconstructed and incorporated into the theatre. The whole structure was lifted up for the modern section underneath, which today is home to the gift ship, cafe, box office etc. To see the change, you can compare the two images below.

It used to have another entrance way onto the piazza behind, but this was removed and sold to Borough Market in 2003. They purchased it for £1 and you can now see it at the entrance to the market on Stoney Street.

The Floral Hall has lots of incredible cafes, bars and dining spaces within it today. The Piazza restaurant is a great spot to sit, with stunning views over the Covent Garden piazza. 

In 2003 this interesting footbridge, designed by WilkinsonEyre was constructed over Floral Street connecting the Royal Opera House to the Royal Ballet School on the other side of the street.

The two entrances are not opposite each other so this fun geometric design was implemented, each metal square frame twisting 4 degrees relative to its neighbour. It is called the Bridge of Aspiration, the idea being that it is for ballet dancers to walk over and, in a way, graduate into their careers on the public stage. 

The Royal Ballet, which had previously been known as Sadler’s Wells Ballet became the resident ballet company at the Royal Opera House in 1946. 

The Theatre Today

It is safe to say today that it is one of the most highly regarded opera houses in the world. Even if you are not particularly into opera, it is a spectacular experience to go and see a show there. 

You can see what they have on currently here. 

The price generally is higher than perhaps a classic play but you can get cheap tickets. They do Friday rush tickets for example, so you can sometimes get good seats for under £50, if you are able to book more last minute. They also have very good deals for young people and students. 

You can find out more about their very interesting behind the scenes tour as well here.

Thank you for reading, delve into more of London’s fascinating historical spots below…