Plaque

St James's Theatre - SWET

Inscription

Theatreland - heart of the performing arts in London.
St James's Theatre
On this site stood the St James's Theatre, demolished in 1957 despite an epic campaign of protest led by Vivien Leigh and Sir Laurence Olivier. George Alexander, manager from 1890 - 1918, staged both Oscar Wilde's "Lady Windermere's Fan" and "The Importance of Being Earnest" for the first time.
A joint venture by the City of Westminster and the Society of West End Theatre.

Site: St James's Theatre (3 memorials)

SW1, King Street, 23-24

The passageway between the pub and the modern building houses the SWET plaque and the Olivier relief. The other 3 reliefs are at the far end of the passageway.

We believe the reliefs used to adorn the balconies of the first building to replace the theatre, now demolished.

This section lists the subjects commemorated on the memorial on this page:
St James's Theatre - SWET

Subjects commemorated i

St James's Theatre

FineArtAmerica have a photo.

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Sir George Alexander

Actor-manager. Ran the St James's Theatre from about 1891 until his death in ...

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Vivien Leigh

Born Darjeeling, India.  With her husband Laurence Olivier, she managed the S...

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Laurence Olivier, Baron Olivier

Born Dorking, Surrey, as Laurence Kerr Olivier. With his wife Vivien Leigh, h...

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Oscar Wilde

Born in Dublin as Oscar Fingal O'Flaherty Wills Wilde. 'Importance of Being E...

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This section lists the subjects who helped to create/erect the memorial on this page:
St James's Theatre - SWET

Created by i

Society of West End Theatre/London Theatre

1908 Formed as West End Theatre Managers. 1976 By now it is called Society o...

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Westminster City Council

The ancient parish of St Margaret's was divided into St Margaret's and St Joh...

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This section lists the other memorials at the same location as the memorial on this page:
St James's Theatre - SWET

Also at this site i

St James's Theatre - 3 reliefs

St James's Theatre - 3 reliefs

The four bas-relief panels by Edward Bainbridge Copnall depict the heads of G...

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St James's Theatre - Olivier relief

St James's Theatre - Olivier relief

We choose this as our featured memorial in March 2007 since this year sees th...

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