Watergate Theatre, London

The Watergate Theatre was a short-lived but vibrant institution that occupied a site at twenty-nine Buckingham Gate from nineteen forty-nine until nineteen fifty-six. Its founders, including the playwright Velona Pilcher and the urbanist Elizabeth Denby, transformed the space after it had been devastated by a Chinese restaurant being bombed during the Blitz. The theatre operated as a private club and served as a cultural hub during the post-war years, aiming to maintain the spirit of the original Gate Theatre which had been forced to close after its own premises on Villiers Street were struck by bombardment. The theatre gained significant attention for its ambitious artistic program, which included the English premiere of plays by figures like August Strindberg and the debut of George Bernard Shaw's final work, Farfetched Fables. In nineteen fifty, the venue drew international notice when it hosted a successful production of Pablo Picasso's surrealist short play, Desire Caught by the Tail. Plans were even set to decorate the theatre walls with original murals by Marc Chagall, who produced two preparatory studies titled The Dance and the Circus and The Blue Circus for the project before the theatre ultimately moved to the Comedy Theatre in Panton Street in nineteen fifty-six due to impending demolition.