Davenant patent ) The foundation of the Theatre Royal, Covent Garden lies in the
letters patent awarded by
Charles II to Sir
William Davenant in 1662, allowing Davenant to operate one of only two
patent theatre companies (''The
Duke's Company'') in London. The letters patent remained in the possession of the patentees' heirs until the 19th century. Their whereabouts were unknown for some time, but as of 2019 they are held in the
Rosenbach Museum & Library,
Philadelphia.
First theatre In 1728,
John Rich, actor-manager of the Duke's Company at
Lincoln's Inn Fields Theatre, commissioned ''
The Beggar's Opera'' from
John Gay. The success of this venture provided him with the capital to build the Theatre Royal (designed by
Edward Shepherd) at the site of an ancient convent garden.
Inigo Jones had developed part of this property in the 1630s with a piazza and
St Paul's church (now known colloquially as the actors' church). In addition, a royal charter had created a fruit and vegetable market in the area, a market which survived in that location
until 1974. At the opening of the theatre on 7 December 1732, Rich was carried by his actors in procession into the building for its inaugural production of
William Congreve's
The Way of the World. During its first century, the theatre was operated primarily as a playhouse, with the Letters Patent granted by Charles II giving the Theatre Royal, Covent Garden and
Theatre Royal, Drury Lane exclusive rights to present spoken drama in London. Despite the frequent interchangeability between the two companies, competition was intense, and the companies often presented the same plays at the same time. Rich introduced
pantomime to the repertoire, performing himself, under the stage name
John Lun, as
Harlequin. A tradition of seasonal pantomime continued at the modern theatre until 1939. In 1734, the theatre presented its first ballet,
Pygmalion. Around the same time, the auditorium ceiling was painted by
Jacopo Amigoni as
The Muses presenting Shakespeare to Apollo, which prompted a brief press dispute:
The Weekly Register criticised the work as obscure and over-ornamented, while the rival
Grub Street Journal printed point-by-point replies defending Amigoni.
George Frideric Handel was named musical director of the company at
Lincoln's Inn Fields in 1719, but his first season of opera for the theatre was not presented until 1734. His first opera was
Il pastor fido, followed by
Ariodante (1735), and the première of
Alcina, and
Atalanta the following year. In 1743 there was a royal performance of
Messiah; its success resulted in a tradition of
Lenten
oratorio performances. From 1735 until his death in 1759, Handel gave regular seasons at the theatre; many of his operas and oratorios were written for that venue or had their first London performances there. He bequeathed his organ to John Rich, and it was placed in a prominent position on the stage. It was among many valuable items lost in a fire that destroyed the theatre on 20 September 1808. In 1792 the architect
Henry Holland rebuilt the auditorium; he expanded its capacity within the existing shell of the building.
Second theatre , as
Clown Rebuilding began in December 1808, and the second Theatre Royal, Covent Garden (designed by
Robert Smirke) opened on 18 September 1809 with a performance of
Macbeth followed by a musical entertainment called
The Quaker. The actor-manager
John Philip Kemble, raised seat prices to help recoup the cost of rebuilding and the cost of an increased ground rent introduced by the landowner, the Duke of Bedford, but the move was so unpopular that audiences disrupted performances by beating sticks, hissing, booing and dancing. The
Old Price Riots lasted over two months, and the management was finally forced to accede to the audience's demands. During this time, entertainment was varied; opera and ballet were presented, but not exclusively. Kemble engaged in a variety of acts, including the child performer
Master Betty; the great
clown Joseph Grimaldi made his name at Covent Garden. Many famous actors of the day appeared at the theatre, including the tragediennes
Sarah Siddons and
Eliza O'Neill, the Shakespearean actors
William Macready,
Edmund Kean and his son
Charles. On 25 March 1833 Edmund Kean collapsed on stage while playing
Othello, and died two months later. Early pantomimes were performed as
mimes accompanied by music, but as
Music hall became popular, Grimaldi introduced the
pantomime dame to the theatre and was responsible for the tradition of audience singing. By 1821 dance and clowning had taken such a physical toll on Grimaldi that he could barely walk, and he retired from the theatre. By 1828, he was penniless; Drury Lane held a benefit concert for him after Covent Garden refused. In 1817, bare flame gaslight had replaced the former candles and oil lamps that lighted the Covent Garden stage. This was an improvement, but in 1837 Macready employed
limelight in the theatre for the first time, during a performance of a pantomime,
Peeping Tom of Coventry. Limelight used a block of
quicklime heated by an oxygen and hydrogen flame. This allowed the use of spotlights to highlight performers on the stage. The
Theatres Act 1843 broke the patent theatres' monopoly of drama. At that time
Her Majesty's Theatre in the Haymarket was the main centre of ballet and opera but after a dispute with the management in 1846
Michael Costa, conductor at Her Majesty's, transferred his allegiance to Covent Garden, bringing most of the company with him. The auditorium was completely remodeled after an 1856 fire, during the following 1856–57 seasons, the company performed at the
Lyceum Theatre. The theatre reopened as the Royal Italian Opera on 6 April 1857 with a performance of
Rossini's
Semiramide. In 1852,
Louis Antoine Jullien, the French eccentric composer of light music and conductor presented an opera of his own composition,
Pietro il Grande. Five performances were given of the 'spectacular', including live horses on the stage and very loud music. Critics considered it a complete failure and Jullien was ruined and fled to America. and
Napoleon III at the second (1809–1856) Royal Opera House (18 or 19 April 1855) Costa and his successors presented all operas in Italian, even those originally written in French, German or English, until 1892, when
Gustav Mahler presented the debut of Wagner's
Ring cycle at Covent Garden. The word "Italian" was then quietly dropped from the name of the opera house. The conjuror
John Henry Anderson, who had exposed the
Davenport brothers, leased the theatre to stage his shows which were critical of
mediums and
spiritualism. After a gala performance and
bal masqué organised by Anderson, the theatre caught fire in the early hours of 5 March 1856 and was destroyed.
Third theatre Work on a third theatre, designed by
Edward Middleton Barry, and opened on 15 May 1858 with a performance of
Meyerbeer's Les Huguenots. The Royal English Opera company under the management of
Louisa Pyne and
William Harrison, made their last performance at
Theatre Royal, Drury Lane, on 11 December 1858 and took up residence at Covent Garden on 20 December 1858 with the premiere of
Michael Balfe's
Satanella – the first opera to have its world premiere at the new theatre – and continued there until 1865. The theatre became the Royal Opera House (ROH) in 1892, and the number of French and German works offered increased. Winter and summer seasons of opera and ballet were given, and the building was also used for pantomime, recitals and political meetings. During the
First World War, the theatre was requisitioned by the Ministry of Works for use as a furniture repository. and private fundraising had been raised to enable the company to embark upon a major £213 million reconstruction of the building by
Carillion, which took place between 1997 and 1999, under the chairmanship of
Sir Angus Stirling. This involved the demolition of almost the whole site including several adjacent buildings to make room for a major increase in the size of the complex. The auditorium itself remained, but well over half of the complex was new. The design team was led by Jeremy Dixon and
Edward Jones of Dixon Jones
BDP as architects. The acoustic designers were Rob Harris and Jeremy Newton of Arup Acoustics. The building engineer was
Arup with
Stanhope as developer. (left) to the Royal Opera House (right) on the 4th floor. The bridge was designed by
Wilkinson Eyre Architects The new building has the same traditional horseshoe-shaped auditorium as before, but with greatly improved technical, rehearsal, office, and educational facilities. Additionally, a new studio theatre, the Linbury, as well as more public space was created. The inclusion of the adjacent old Floral Hall, which had fallen into disrepair and was used as a scenery store before redevelopment, created a new and extensive public gathering place. The venue is now claimed by the ROH to be the most modern theatre facility in Europe.
Surtitles, projected onto a screen above the proscenium, have been used for all opera performances since they were introduced for school matinees in the 1983/4 season. Since the reopening of the theatre in 1999 an
electronic libretto system provides translations onto small video screens for some seats, and additional monitors and screens are to be introduced to other parts of the house. In 2014 design work, known as the Open Up Project, began with the aim of opening the theatre's building to the public during the day, as well as improving the entrances, lobby areas and the Linbury Theatre. As part of the Open Up Project, IQ Projects were tasked with the renovation of the upper floor bar area and restaurant utilising various elements of bespoke glazing. In October 2020, the
BBC reported that the Royal Opera House had lost 60% of its income as a result of restrictions implemented in response to the
COVID-19 pandemic. As a consequence, the 1971
Portrait of Sir David Webster by
David Hockney, which had hung in the opera house for several decades, was put up for auction at
Christie's. It eventually sold for £12.8 million. The funds raised from the sale were needed to ensure the survival of the institution. "Significant
redundancies" and an appeal for public donations were also made. In addition, the opera house applied for a loan to the
Culture Recovery Fund. In 2023 members of the orchestra were selected to play at the
coronation of Charles III and Camilla. In 2024, the public branding of the venue and its associated online and media presence was changed from the Royal Opera House to Royal Ballet and Opera to reflect the combined companies that call the physical building their home. The physical building itself remains the Royal Opera House whilst the branding and business operations change their title to reflect this adjustment.
2025 In March 2025, the ROH received multiple nominations for the upcoming
Olivier Awards. Notably,
Festen was nominated for Best New Opera Production. On 19 July 2025, following a performance of
Giuseppe Verdi’s
Il Trovatore,
Oliver Mears, Director of Opera at the ROH entered the stage and attempted, but failed, to snatch a Palestinian flag from one of the cast, Daniel Perry, who had brought it on stage to unfurl during the curtain call in protest against the
Gaza War. Perry later told
Novara Media that after the curtain was lowered, Mears said to him: "You will never work at this opera house ever again". The
Royal Ballet and Opera declined to confirm or deny the involvement of Mears but described Perry's actions as "completely inappropriate" and backing the “several members of staff [who] attempted to protect the final curtain call of the Season". Asked subsequently by Van magazine to comment on its support for Ukraine and stance on Gaza, the
Royal Ballet and Opera stated: "Our support for Ukraine was shaped by a full-scale invasion that posed a direct threat to international stability and the UK’s national security. At the time, we were aligned with the global consensus around the need for immediate support. We recognise that the humanitarian situation across Gaza and Israel is grave and pressing. The wider geopolitical context is tense, layered, and complex." The letter highlighted the RBO's recent hiring out of its production of
Turandot to the
Israeli Opera (which had offered free tickets to uniformed members of the
IDF) and stated: “The decision cannot be viewed as neutral. It is a deliberate alignment, materially and symbolically, with a government currently engaged in crimes against humanity.” The letter condemned the “extremely poor judgment of
Oliver Mears” who was “witnessed attempting to forcibly snatch the flag from the performer, displaying visible anger and aggression in front of the entire audience” and sought for Mears “to be held accountable for his public display of aggression” which they described as “far from being a neutral administrative intervention [but] was itself a loud political statement. It sent a clear message that any visible solidarity with Palestine would be met with hostility while the organisations remains silent on the ongoing genocide … Mears does not represent us”. It called on Beard to: "Reject any current or future performances in Israel, and commit to withholding our productions from institutions that legitimise and economically support a state engaged in the mass killing of civilians". ==Facilities==