Capacity: 656
Currently home to: The Painkiller
The Garrick Theatre is named after the stage actor David Garrick and opened in 1889 specialising in the performance of melodrama. There was previously another theatre that was sometimes called the Garrick in London, on Leman Street, that opened in 1831 and was demolished in 1881. The new Garrick Theatre was financed in 1889 by the playwright W.S. Gilbert, the author of over 75 plays, including the Gilbert and Sullivan comic operas. It was designed by Walter Emden with C.J.Phipps brought in as a consultant to help with the planning on the difficult site after an underground river was discovered in the excavation. Originally the theatre had 800 seats on four levels, but the gallery (top) level has since been closed and the seating capacity reduced to 656.