Theatres have always played an important part of the cultural life of locals and visitors. Yes, there was a period when the Puritans under the leadership of Oliver Cromwell closed them down as unhealthy ways to enjoy yourself. Mind you, he even banned Christmas. But, apart from that, theatres have been a positive part of London life. And that pretty much went for theatregoers. They were on the whole, well-behaved and interested in the works of the playwrights and the actors who performed on stage.
But that was about to change. One of the popular theatres in the early part of the nineteenth century was the Covent garden Theatre. Unfortunately, in 1808, it burned down. The owner, a man by the name of John Kemble was left with trying to rebuild the theatre. He succeeded but at a very high cost. When the new building reopened, he put up the prices in order to get back some of the money he had spent rebuilding it.
So, how much did he raise prices and how had the theatre changed during the rebuilding? Ticket prices were increased by one shilling. For those who are too young, this equates to an increase of five pence. But there were also physical changes. The old third tier of seating had now gone and was replaced by a series of boxes designed for the wealthy. In addition, the new gallery had a design problem; those sitting there could only see the actors’ legs!
There was uproar from the audience. What should have been a great opening night became a farce as the audience began disrupting the play and booing the actors on stage. They began to chant “Old Prices, Old Prices.” The play finally finished but the audience hadn’t. They stayed in the auditorium causing a noisy disturbance until 2am the next day. The police were called. No effect.
Was this a one-off which would calm down when people either accepted the changes or got bored. No, they didn’t. In fact, the “rioting” or at least, riotous behaviour went on nightly for a further 67 days. People would turn up when the play was halfway through and disrupt proceedings. Others brought placards and posters which they put up around the theatre. Kemble tried to stop them by having magistrates stand on stage and issue warnings of legal action and lawyers did the same thing. But, it was all to no avail.
Eventually, John Kemble knew he was beaten. He went on stage and issued a public declaration that the old prices would be brought back and he also delivered a full apology. It was probably the best-received performance for months as the audience rose, clapped and cheered the news. And because underneath all this, the average theatregoer was still a decent person, they held a celebration dinner and invited John Kemble to come as a guest. I don’t know if he was charged or was seated where he could only see the legs of the waiters!
John Pullen 