St James's Theatre

The St James’s Theatre stood in King Street, St James’s, a fashionable corner of Westminster. Built in 1835 for the singer John Braham, it occupied a site once held by the decaying 17th-century hotel called Nerot’s. The façade combined three storeys of pale neo-classical stone with a four-column Ionic portico and a two-storey loggia. Inside, Louis XIV decoration included gilded Watteau panels, gold medallions on the slips, and a shell-form proscenium painted with figures of loves and graces. Two fluted Corinthian columns framed the stage boxes, and caryatides supported a ring of arches under the ceiling. The Frederick Crace firm finished the auditorium in delicate French white, ensuring good sight-lines and acoustics. The theatre’s early years were troubled. Braham lost money quickly and retired after three seasons. A string of managers followed, giving the house a reputation as unlucky. Only when John Hare and the Kendals took charge from 1879 to 1888 did it begin to prosper. George Alexander ran the theatre from 1891 until his death in 1918, winning praise for adventurous but tasteful programmes. He presented Wilde’s Lady Windermere’s Fan and The Importance of Being Earnest, and Pinero’s The Second Mrs Tanqueray. Long runs such as The Last of Mrs Cheyney and Separate Tables kept the house busy through the 1920s and 1930s. Visitors found an elegant playhouse where every detail aimed at comfort and beauty. The dress circle had a richly embossed gold floral border, while the slips and gallery carried neat gold ornaments and medallions. The proscenium arch framed the stage with painted figures, and Corinthian columns stood on imitation-marble pedestals. A series of caryatides supported the upper arches, completing the light and brilliant ensemble. Though the building was demolished in 1957, contemporary accounts still call it a fairy palace, admired for hearing and seeing as well as for its fairy-like appearance.