Curtain Road Theatre #LoveTheatreDay

On the side of the Horse & Groom on Curtain Road, Shoreditch there’s a clue to what’s behind the hoardings.

In October 2011 parts of The Curtain Theatre were discovered, The second oldest Shakespearean playhouse in London, dating from around 1577.
The Curtain theatre would probably contained around 1,000 seats and been an open air theatre, appearing much like the Globe today. In fact, the prologue from Shakespeare’s Henry V is thought to make reference to the Curtain Theatre as “this wooden O”.

The theatre closed around 1630 once a thriving community had been established in Southwark.

The ruins will be excavated, preserved and exhibited over 13,000 sq ft, including a 164-seat indoor auditorium designed by Pringle Brandon Perkins+Will and an external 200-seat space, above is an artist’s impression of the final site.

(It’s also worth mentioning that the high rise building will contain 413 luxurious apartments… See a recent Guardian article about the lack of social housing here: http://www.theguardian.com/money/2016/feb/08/750m-apartment-block-shakespeare-curtain-theatre)