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

Comments are provided by Facebook, please ensure you are signed in here to see them

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 ...

Read More

Laurence Cowen

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

Read More

Other Subjects

José Collins

José Collins

Actress and singer. Born Josephine Charlotte Collins or Cooney in Whitechapel. She started her career as a child performer and went on to perform on stage and in films in Britain and America. Her g...

Person, Cinema, Music / songs, Theatre, USA

1 memorial
Dame Flora Robson

Dame Flora Robson

Actor. Born Flora McKenzie Robson in South Shields, County Durham. She made her stage debut in 1921, but found it difficult to obtain parts because she did not have the required good looks. She tem...

Person, Cinema, Theatre

2 memorials
Kevin Spacey

Kevin Spacey

Actor and director.  Born New Jersey.  Artistic director of the Old Vic theatre since 2003.

Person, Cinema, Seriously Famous, Theatre, USA

1 memorial
Jimmy Jewel

Jimmy Jewel

Comedy actor. Born James Arthur Thomas Marsh in Sheffield to a couple of music-hall entertainers.  When Jimmy's successful double act became old fashioned he restarted his career in television in t...

Person, Humour, Theatre, TV & Radio

2 memorials
Crosskey's Inn

Crosskey's Inn

In the late 1500s plays were performed in the inn-yard. The Inn was destroyed in the Great Fire.

Building, Commerce, Food & Drink, Theatre

1 memorial

Previously viewed

Alfred Hitchcock

Alfred Hitchcock

Film director. Born at 517 Leytonstone High Road above his father William’s greengrocery and poultry shop. See Spitalfields Life for an unusual take on his life in Leytonstone. When Alfie was about...

Person, Cinema, Seriously Famous

23 memorials
Lord Palumbo

Lord Palumbo

Created a life peer on 4 February 1991 as Baron Palumbo of Walbrook in the City of London.

Person, Property

7 memorials
British Plaque Trust

British Plaque Trust

A charity with: "The key objective of the British Plaque Trust (BPT) is to resurrect this national scheme {of English Heritage} which commemorates the lives and successes of notable figures by reco...

Group, History

9 memorials
German Evangelical Church Sydenham

German Evangelical Church Sydenham

Founded by ​​wealthy German businessmen and artisans who left the City of London for the relative peace of Forest Hill.  Temporary accommodation was used from 1875 until this pictured church was bu...

Building, Religion, Germany

1 memorial
Christabel Pankhurst

Christabel Pankhurst

Suffragette. Born Manchester, daughter of Emmeline, her eldest child and her favourite. Moved to America in 1939 and died in California.

Person, Gender Issues, Politics & Administration, USA

6 memorials