Early years: 1881–1900 The streets between
Leicester Square and the
Haymarket had been of insalubrious reputation until shortly before the construction of the Comedy Theatre, but by 1881 the "doubtful resorts of the roisterers" had been removed. The builders were Kirk and Randall of
Woolwich. The original seating capacity was 1,186, comprising 140 stalls, 120 dress circle, 126 upper boxes, amphitheatre 100, pit 400 and gallery 300. It was originally planned to light the theatre by the new electric lighting, but for unspecified reasons this was temporarily abandoned, and the usual gas lighting was installed. and
Chassaigne's Falka (with
Violet Cameron in the title role) in 1884. The last of the series of operettas was
Erminie in 1885, which starred, among others,
Violet Melnotte, who became the lessee of the theatre in that year. She presented plays including
The Silver Shield by
Sydney Grundy; and
Sister Mary by
Wilson Barrett and
Clement Scott (1886), and a season of comic operas in which she appeared herself. The following year the sub-lessee was
Charles Hawtrey, who ran the theatre until 1892 and produced
Jane (1890) and many farces described by Mander and Mitchenson as "now-forgotten". which he followed with a successful season of light comedies. The major productions of 1899 were
A Lady of Quality by
Frances Hodgson Burnett, and
Great Caesar by
George Grossmith Jr. and
Paul Rubens, with
Willie Edouin, Grossmith and Reeve.
20th century as Alice in
Alice Through the Looking-Glass at the Comedy Theatre during the Christmas period 1903–04. Pictured in
The Tatler (January 1904) In the early years of the 20th century the Comedy was often used for special seasons and matinée performances of avant garde plays.
Frank Benson and his company, which included
Lilian Braithwaite and
Oscar Asche, played a Shakespeare season in 1901. In 1902,
Lewis Waller presented an adaption of
Monsieur Beaucaire which ran for 430 performances. In 1904
Fred Terry and
Julia Neilson played in
Sunday for a run of 129 performances. The following year
Charles Frohman presented
John Barrymore in his first London appearance in
The Dictator. In 1906
John Hare presented a short season, appearing in
The Alabaster Staircase, and a revival of
A Pair of Spectacles. Other productions in the first decade of the century included
Raffles with
Gerald du Maurier in the title role (1906), which ran for 351 performances; 1907, a series of six dramas by
Somerset Maugham and others starring
Marie Tempest (1907–1909); and
Marie Löhr in Pinero's
Preserving Mr Panmure (1911). The final production to open before the
First World War was ''Peg o' My Heart'', with
Laurette Taylor, which ran for 710 performances. In 1915 the Comedy followed the fashion for
revue, presenting
Albert de Courville's
Shell Out! (1915),
C. B. Cochran's
Half-past Eight (1916), and four successive revues by
André Charlot:
This and That and
See-Saw! (1916), and
Bubbly and
Tails Up (1918). They all ran well, particularly the last two, which ran for 429 and 467 performances respectively. The theatre established the New Watergate Club in 1956, under producer Anthony Field, to counter the stage censorship in force at the time. The
Theatres Act 1843 was still in force and required scripts to be submitted for approval by the
Lord Chamberlain's Office. Formation of the club allowed plays that had been banned due to language or subject matter to be performed under "club" conditions. Plays produced in this way included the UK premières of
Arthur Miller's
A View from the Bridge,
Robert Anderson's
Tea and Sympathy and
Tennessee Williams'
Cat on a Hot Tin Roof. The law was not revoked until 1968, but in the late 1950s there was a loosening of conditions in theatre censorship, the club was dissolved and
Peter Shaffer's
Five Finger Exercise premièred to a public audience. The theatre was
Grade II listed by
English Heritage in June 1972. ==Recent productions==