Theatre Royal

Located opposite the famous historic Windsor Castle. The original Theatre Royal was opened in 1815. It was a 500-seat theatre on three levels. It was gutted by a fire on 15th February 1908.

Rebuilt to the plans of architect Frank T. Verity, re-opening in December 1910. The Theatre Royal has a narrow façade to the street frontage. Inside the auditorium seating was originally provided for 1,000. Today this has been reduced to 644, with 405 in the orchestra stalls, 225 in the circle and 14 in the stage boxes. It is decorated in a French Neo-Classical style. The proscenium is 28 feet wide, and there are eleven dressing rooms.

By 1927 it was operated by the Kingshot Syndicate Ltd. and was screening films. In 1935, the Theatre Royal was taken over by the Union Cinemas chain and became the Royalty Cinema. Seating was listed as 783 at that time. Union Cinemas were taken over by Associated British Cinemas(ABC) chain in October 1937, and in 1938, the Royalty Cinema was closed, and reverted back to live theatre use as the Theatre Royal, which remains open today.

The Theatre Royal is a Grade II Listed building.

Recent comments (view all 4 comments)

Ken Roe on February 2, 2011 at 5:36 am

The Theatre Royal, photographed in February 2010:
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Foyer in 2007:
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Auditorium in 2006:
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Ian on February 3, 2011 at 2:50 am

A few more photos here:–

http://www.flickr.com/photos/stagedoor/3356124558/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/stagedoor/3356124276/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/stagedoor/3356124864/

TLSLOEWS on February 3, 2011 at 7:38 am

Great photos Ken and thanks for posting.

DavidSimpson on August 26, 2013 at 6:30 am

On a visit in July 2013, to see a stage show, I was interested to note that films will be screened, on an occasional basis, under the brand name Windsor Picturehouse, from Sunday 6 October 2013.