Theatre Royal Haymarket

You are standing before one of the oldest stages in London, a place that began its life in 1720 as the Little Theatre in the Hay. Back then, it was built on the site of an old inn where the surrounding streets were thick with pickpockets and street performers competing for attention. It cost only one thousand pounds to build, a modest sum that stood in stark contrast to the massive, state-sanctioned playhouses of the time. While those larger venues held strict monopolies over serious drama, this little theatre defied those limits by staging daring, satirical plays that poked fun at the most powerful figures in government.