Building    From 8/11/1924 

Fortune Theatre - WC2

Categories: Theatre

Designed by Ernest Schaufelberg, this was the first London theatre to be built after the end of WW1, and one of the first buildings in London to to use ferro-concrete construction. Built on the site of the Albion tavern. Due to a right of way the passage to the Crown Court Church of Scotland is buried in the fabric of the theatre, on the south-west side. One of the smaller theatres in London, it was commissioned by Laurence Cowen who also wrote the opening play, Sinners!, which sadly ran for only 2 weeks. 'Beyond The Fringe' initially ran here.

Originally named the Fortune Thriller Theatre, possibly after the Fortune Theatre in EC1. Some sources give August as the opening month but Arthur Lloyd convincingly gives November.

Sources include: Theatre-Tickets.

Credit for this entry to: Alan Patient of www.plaquesoflondon.co.uk

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This section lists the memorials where the subject on this page is commemorated:
Fortune Theatre - WC2

Commemorated ati

Fortune Theatre - WC2

{Above a stylised picture of two performers:} Fortune Theatre. A 'jewel of a ...

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Laurence Cowen

The dates on the plaque indicate the anticipated period of construction, but ...

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Other Subjects

English National Opera

English National Opera

Originated in the opera recitals presented by Lilian Baylis at the Old Vic theatre in 1898 and then at Sadler's Wells. As Sadler's Wells Opera it moved to the London Coliseum in 1968 and became the...

Group, Music / songs, Theatre

2 memorials
William Wycherley

William Wycherley

Playwright. No birth information but baptised in 1641 in Hampshire. Wrote The Country Wife and The Plain Dealer. Died in Bow Street.

Person, Theatre

1 memorial
Salisbury Court Playhouse

Salisbury Court Playhouse

Built by Richard Gunnell and William Blagrove. The picture source website gives a lot of information.

Place, Theatre

1 memorial
Saint Joan

Saint Joan

Play by George Bernard Shaw.  Joan's canonisation in 1920 may have suggested the topic to Shaw.  The premiere was in New York in December.  The London premiere was in March 1924 with Sybil Thorndik...

Fiction, Theatre

1 memorial

Previously viewed

C. G. Middleton

C. G. Middleton

Resident of Hendon who served and died in WW2.

Person, Armed Forces

War dead, WW2
1 memorial
112 people killed in the Harrow rail crash
3 memorials
T. Hooker

T. Hooker

Co-partner or employee of the South Suburban Gas Company. Served but did not die in WW1.

Person, Armed Forces

War served, WW1
1 memorial
Edith Cavell plaque

Edith Cavell plaque

E2, Kingsland Road

Cavell was executed by the Germans in Brussels and she figures on our sister site, BrusselsRemembers.

War dead | WW1
2 subjects commemorated, 1 creator
British Association of Dermatologists

British Association of Dermatologists

W1, Fitzroy Square, 4

Robert Willan was the founder of dermatology in Britain, so it's fairly certain that the house is named after him.

1 subject commemorated, 2 creators