Qualla: Bristol Old Vic

Bristol Old Vic: Introduction

Wed, 20 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Jwslubbock, CC BY-SA 3.0. In 1766, fifty Bristol citizens each handed over fifty pounds and received in return a numbered silver token. The token entitled the bearer to unlimited free entry to a new theatre being built behind a row of medieval houses on King Street. Two special golden tokens went to a cabinet maker named Edward Crump and his wife Ann, in recognition of the immense effort they had put into convincing the landowners. On 30 May 1766 the theatre opened. David Garrick, the most famous actor of the age, sent down a prologue and epilogue from Drury Lane. The Theatre Royal, Bristol has been operating continuously ever since.

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Image: Jwslubbock | CC BY-SA 3.0

Bristol Old Vic: The most beautiful theatre in England

Wed, 20 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Nilfanion, CC BY-SA 4.0. Daniel Day-Lewis, who trained here, called it the most beautiful theatre in England. The Theatre Royal occupies a roughly rectangular site called Rackhay Yard, accessed through narrow passageways cut beneath the medieval King Street houses. The architect of record was the Bristol...

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Image: Nilfanion | CC BY-SA 4.0

Bristol Old Vic: Evading the law

Wed, 20 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit mattbuck (category), CC BY-SA 3.0. When the theatre opened, English law made it nearly impossible to run an unlicensed playhouse outside London. The Licensing Act of 1737 restricted spoken drama to the patent theatres at Drury Lane and Covent Garden. So the Bristol proprietors did what every provincial theatre did...

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Image: mattbuck (category) | CC BY-SA 3.0

Bristol Old Vic: The Old Vic comes to Bristol

Wed, 20 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit NotFromUtrecht, CC BY-SA 3.0. By 1942 the building was decaying and its owners had put it up for sale. The fear was that Bristol's theatre would be lost. A public appeal raised funds and a new trust bought the building. In 1943 it was taken over by the London Old Vic and a new company, the Bristol Old Vic, wa...

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Image: NotFromUtrecht | CC BY-SA 3.0

Bristol Old Vic: Ghosts, fires, refurbishment

Wed, 20 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Jane Graham, CC BY-SA 2.0. In 2007 the trustees made the controversial decision to close the theatre for major refurbishment. Many in the profession feared the building would never reopen as a working theatre. A new board led by Dick Penny appointed Tom Morris from the Royal National Theatre as artistic di...

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Image: Jane Graham | CC BY-SA 2.0