Goodman's Fields Theatre

Goodman's Fields Theatre on Alie Street was once so fashionable that coaches and chariots belonging to the city's elite frequently jammed the narrow roads of this remote East End district. Its reputation as a high-society destination was largely cemented in seventeen forty-one when a young actor named David Garrick made his sensational London debut there as Richard the Third. Before that performance, Garrick was a virtual unknown, but his energetic and naturalistic style immediately revolutionized the British stage. His success was so sudden and profound that it drew the wealthiest theatergoers away from the established playhouses in the West End. This shift in patronage created intense jealousy among rival theatre managers, who successfully lobbied the government to enforce strict licensing laws that ultimately forced this independent venue to close its doors for good just one year later.