The Old Vic

The Old Vic opened its doors in eighteen eighteen as the Royal Coburg Theatre, but it faced a precarious start. The surrounding area was then a desolate, unpaved marshland, and theatergoers often arrived with genuine fear of being robbed on their way through the poorly lit streets to reach the entrance. Because the building lacked official royal letters patent, it was legally prohibited from staging serious drama, so it filled its early programs with lowbrow melodramas, pantomimes, and harlequinades to survive.