Crow Street Theatre was a theatre in Dublin, Ireland, originally opened in 1758 by the actor Spranger Barry. From 1788 until 1818 it was a patent theatre.
The actor Spranger Barry (1719–1777), born in Dublin and appearing in London from 1746, induced the London-born actor Henry Woodward (1714–1777), who had saved £6,000, to participate in his project to build a theatre in Dublin. Charles Macklin participated at an early stage, but soon withdrew. Barry and Woodward moved to Dublin, and the Crow Street Theatre opened in October 1758. It struggled as a rival to the Smock Alley Theatre. [1] [2] [3] Maria Nossiter (1735–1759), who had lived with Barry in London, was assigned an eighth share of the profits. [4]
In 1760 Barry and Woodward opened a theatre in Cork, the Theatre Royal. By 1762 Woodward had lost half his savings; the partnership was dissolved, and he returned to London. Barry continued for a few more years, then also returned to London. [1] [2] [5]
Henry Mossop, manager of Smock Alley Theatre since 1760, took over Crow Street Theatre in 1767, but resigned the theatre in 1770; the actor Thomas Ryder, who ran Smock Alley Theatre from 1772, also ran Crow Street Theatre. In 1782 the actor Richard Daly became owner of the theatre, and in 1786, having obtained a patent from the Crown, he opened Crow Street Theatre in 1788 as the Theatre Royal, a patent theatre. £12,000 had been spent on rebuilding and decoration. It was profitable for a while, but later suffered from the opening of Astley's Amphitheatre. [6] [7] [8]
Frederick Edward Jones leased the theatre from Daly, and spent £1200 on renovating the house, which was decorated by Marinari and Zaffarini. It was opened in 1796, but closed when martial law was declared, relating to the Irish Rebellion of 1798. Jones obtained a new royal patent in 1798, and spent a further £5000 on the theatre, but in the political climate it had to close in 1803. [9]
The theatre was wrecked in a riot of 1814; and there were further riots in 1819. Jones attributed his unpopularity to his being active in politics; in 1807 he had supported the election of an anti-ministerial member of parliament for Dublin. His application in 1818 for renewal of the patent was refused, being granted instead to Henry Harris, a proprietor of Covent Garden Theatre. The years of disruption had been financially detrimental, and he was imprisoned for debt. During the 1819–20 season the Crow Street Theatre did not open regularly. [9] [10]
The theatre was rented for a short period and opened as a circus, and was then abandoned. In 1836 the Apothecaries' Hall Company bought part of the site, and a medical school was built. [11]
Spranger Barry was an Irish actor.
Over the centuries, there have been five theatres in Dublin called the Theatre Royal.
Henry Mossop was an Irish actor.
Events from the year 1814 in Ireland.
Macnamara Morgan (c.1720–1762) was an Irish playwright, poet, and barrister.
Thomas Lowe was an English tenor and actor. He appeared at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane and at Covent Garden, and frequently performed in London's pleasure gardens. He was particularly associated with the works of Thomas Arne and George Frideric Handel.
Richard Daly (1758–1813) was an Irish actor and theatrical manager who, between 1786 and 1797, held the Royal patent for staging dramatic productions in Dublin and became such a dominant figure in Irish theatre that he was referred to as "King Daly".
Elizabeth Rebecca Edwin was an Anglo-Irish stage actress active in Ireland and England during the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries.
Henry Siddons was an English actor and theatrical manager, now remembered as a writer on gesture.
Frederick Edward Jones (1759–1834) was an Irish theatre manager.
Thomas Ryder (1735–1790) was a British actor and theatre manager, associated with the Smock Alley Theatre in Dublin. As a player, he was considered at his best in low comedy.
William Macready the Elder (1755–1829) was an Irish actor-manager.
Charles Clagget [also spelled Claget, Claggett, Claggitt] was an Irish musician, composer, and inventor of improvements for musical instruments.
Henry Woodward was an English actor, among the most famous in his day for comedy roles.
David Ross was an British actor and theatre owner. After early appearances in Dublin, he appeared in London at Drury Lane and Covent Garden, and in Edinburgh, where as actor-manager he built a theatre.
John Hippisley was an English comic actor and playwright. He appeared at Lincoln's Inn Fields and Covent Garden in London, and was the original Peachum in The Beggar's Opera. He opened a theatre in Bristol, the Jacobs Well Theatre, where he and his daughter Elizabeth Hippisley appeared.
Maria Isabella Nossiter was a British stage actress. She died young having risen to a high salary and owning a share of a Dublin theatre.
Mary Elmy born Mary Morse was a British actress who appeared in roles at leading theatres in Dublin and London. She led a long life and she was noted for her role of Gertrude appearing with Spranger Barry in Hamlet.
Laurence Clinch (c1740-1812) was an Irish actor, familiarly known as Larry, and accomplished in both tragedy and comedy. The popular farce St Patrick's Day was written and performed to showcase his particular talent.
Robert Hitchcock was a British actor and dramatist. From 1781 he was resident in Dublin, along with his family who also acted, and he wrote a history of the Irish stage.