Koko (music venue)

The Koko venue first opened its doors on Boxing Day in 1900 as the Camden Theatre. It was designed by the prolific theatre architect William George Robert Sprague, who was responsible for dozens of London stages. The opening ceremony featured the celebrated actress Ellen Terry, who had lived in the neighborhood as a child and was a towering figure of the era. Early audiences did not just come for drama, but also for bizarre variety acts, including a performer known as James Dubois, who would emerge from a cage dressed in a hairy covering to perform gymnastic feats as a man-monkey.