This page is one of several pages which are based on articles in our book entitled Royal Leamington Spa, A History in 100 Buildings which was published in 2018 and is no longer in print.
The name ‘Theatre Royal’ has been used for at least two theatres in the town and it may have occasionally also been applied to another.
The first incarnation with the name was the theatre built in Bath Street in 1813. This stood on the east side of the street and was near to the church just south of what was known, at the time, as the Library. Both sites are occupied by a pub called ‘The Old Library’ in 2018. It had quite an impressive façade on such a small building but has since been totally rebuilt. It was opposite the Bath Hotel and was run by Mr J Simms. The plays which were performed included She Stoops to Conquer.
Robert William Elliston acquired this theatre in 1818 but he appears to have been an ambitious man whose plans sometimes over-stretched his resources. It was soon known as Elliston’s Theatre Royal. He built the Assembly Rooms (later The Parthenon) on the opposite side of the street in 1820 and advertised the lease of the theatre a few months later. However, this Theatre Royal closed in 1826. There is some confusion because there are reports of a famous Miss Foote singing at the Theatre Royal in Leamington in 1828. There is further confusion because the theatre in Clemens Street which was created from an abandoned chapel in 1844 was also occasionally called the Theatre Royal. This one closed in 1866.
The next use of the name was for a grand new building in Regent Grove. The Leamington Theatre Company was formed in 1881 and it commissioned London architect C J Phipps to design a 1,200-seat theatre. Charles John Phipps was the foremost theatre architect of his day and, in a long career, designed over thirty theatres including some of the most prestigious in the land. Sadly, Phipps’ career suffered a major setback when one of his theatres, the Theatre Royal in Exeter, was destroyed by fire with the loss of 140 lives. He later confessed that though he had incorporated many fire precautions in the design he “did not allow for smoke.”
Local builder John Fell was awarded the contract for building the Leamington theatre at a cost of £10,000. The foundation stone of the new Theatre Royal was laid by Lord Brooke on 23rd May 1882 and it opened on 2nd October of that year with a performance of The Lily of Killarney directed by Sir Julius Benedict.
The theatre was run by Mr Tempany but was never a success for long. It provided a venue for Sam Lockhart and his elephants on several occasions. In 1892 there were six animals in the show and in 1897 it was advertised that one elephant, Trilby, would ride a tricycle. The theatre was refurbished in 1909. In the light of its future use it is interesting to note that the first films were shown at the theatre in 1912.
There was a tragic event at the theatre in 1915 when the stage manager James Wilkinson, aged 41, of No 92 Tachbrook Street, fell from a ladder and was not discovered for two days. He died later in hospital.
In 1929 a programme for the Theatre Royal proclaimed that the theatre
was “A Playhouse open all year with world-famed stars and No 1 touring attractions”.
Photo Leamington History Group Archives
The theatre closed as a live entertainment venue in 1934 and in 1935 reopened as the Regent Cinema, the town’s fourth, with a magnificent Compton organ.
It was known as the Regent Picture House and it had 1,094 seats. It was converted to show films in Cinemascope (The Modern Miracle You See Without Glasses) and The Robe was the first film made using this system which was shown in July 1954. The last film was shown in December 1962 and was The Miracle Worker with Anne Bancroft. The premises soon reopened as a Bingo Hall and were also used for wrestling shows but it finally closed in 1965 and was used as a workshop by Regent Garage with access from the premises at the rear. The building was demolished in 1984 and the site was used as a car park before being developed in recent years for private housing.
The baton of live theatre in Leamington was carried on by the Loft Theatre (see article) at its theatre at Victoria Colonnade. Performances of various kinds continued at other venues such as the Town Hall (see article), Jephson Pavilion and Urquhart Hall. The purpose-built Royal Spa Centre (see article) opened in 1972.
Michael Jeffs, 2018
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS are presented at the end of this page — https://leamingtonhistory.co.uk/articles-from-royal-leamington-spa-a-history-in-100-buildings/