Theatre Royal, Drury Lane

The Theatre Royal, Drury Lane is a theatre in the West End area of London, officially situated on Catherine Street, but backing onto Drury Lane just to the east of Covent Garden.

A cockpit in that location was converted into a theatre during the reign of James I. After the Restoration of the monarchy in 1660, a splendid new theatre was built to designs by Christopher Wren. Having been razed by fire on January 25, 1672, it was succeeded by a larger and still more elaborate building also designed by Wren, which housed two thousand spectators with the opening attended by Charles II on March 26, 1674.