Theatre Royal Norwich

Since 1758 there has been a playhouse on Theatre Street, when Thomas Ivory built one on the model of Drury Lane for a thousand people; an Act of Parliament ten years later granted the royal patent and the name still in use. William Wilkins reworked the building twice, in 1800 and 1826, and Frank Matcham redecorated it in 1894. Sarah Siddons acted here, and so did Ira Aldridge. Fire destroyed the theatre in 1934; its successor opened the following year and was damaged by bombing in the war. Later threatened with closure, it was taken on by the city council, refurbished substantially in 2007, and is today among the largest touring houses in eastern England, receiving opera, ballet, drama, pantomime and orchestral concerts.