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Building    From 8/11/1924 

Fortune Theatre - WC2

Categories: Theatre

Fortune Theatre - WC2

Designed by Ernest Schaufelberg, this was the first London theatre to be built after the end of WW1, and one of the first buildings in London to to use ferro-concrete construction. Built on the site of the Albion tavern. Due to a right of way the passage to the Crown Court Church of Scotland is buried in the fabric of the theatre, on the south-west side. One of the smaller theatres in London, it was commissioned by Laurence Cowen who also wrote the opening play, Sinners!, which sadly ran for only 2 weeks. 'Beyond The Fringe' initially ran here.

Originally named the Fortune Thriller Theatre, possibly after the Fortune Theatre in EC1. Some sources give August as the opening month but convincingly gives November.

Sources include: .

Credit for this entry to: Alan Patient of www.plaquesoflondon.co.uk

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This section lists the memorials where the subject on this page is commemorated:
Fortune Theatre - WC2

Commemorated ati

Fortune Theatre - WC2

{Above a stylised picture of two performers:} Fortune Theatre. A 'jewel of a ...

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Laurence Cowen

The dates on the plaque indicate the anticipated period of construction, but ...

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Other Subjects

Charles Morgan

Charles Morgan

Playwright, novelist and critic. Born Bromley, Kent, son of the engineer Sir Charles Langbridge Morgan. Died at the house with the plaque.

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1 memorial
Tommy Steele

Tommy Steele

Musician and actor. Born Thomas William Hicks in Bermondsey. He was promoted as the British Elvis Presley and had his first chart success with 'Singin' the Blues'. Many hits followed and in time, h...

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Croydon Grand Theatre and Opera House

Croydon Grand Theatre and Opera House

The theatre was opened by Herbert Beerbohm Tree and it originally produced plays and melodrama. By the 1920s it had become a venue for touring companies. Sarah Bernhardt and Sir Henry Irving were g...

Building, Theatre

1 memorial
Richard Burton

Richard Burton

Actor. Born Richard Walter Jenkins at Pont-rhyd-y-fen, Wales. He was adopted by his English teacher Philip Burton, and took his surname. His first theatrical success was in Christopher Fry's 'The L...

Person, Cinema, Theatre, TV & Radio, Switzerland, Wales

1 memorial
Surrey Theatre

Surrey Theatre

Opened initially as the 'Royal Circus and Equestrian Philharmonic Academy'. Burnt down in 1799 and in 1805. Rebuilt in 1806 by architect Rudolphe Cabanel (who went on to design what is now the Old ...

Building, Theatre

1 memorial