Novelty Theatre

The Novelty Theatre once stood in London’s Borough of Camden, on Great Queen Street near Lincoln’s Inn Fields. Built in 1882 to designs by Thomas Verity, it opened with a comic opera called Melita. The first shows included revivals of French operettas and new plays by British writers. In 1889 it presented the London premiere of Ibsen’s A Doll’s House, a turning point for theatre in the city. The building was rebuilt twice, first in 1898–1900 and again in 1907, changing its name each time. By 1941 it had closed for good after bomb damage during the Blitz. The theatre’s stage saw many notable productions and premieres in its sixty-year life. Works by Edward Solomon, Percy Fendall and Robert Williams Buchanan had their first London runs there. W. S. Penley managed the house from 1900, starring in and producing popular comedies. In 1915 the theatre gave the premiere of Elgar’s The Starlight Express, a wartime musical. Later, in 1919, Oh, Boy! ran for 167 performances, drawing large audiences. The final seasons included historical plays and symphony premieres before the building fell silent in 1941. Today nothing remains of the Novelty Theatre above ground. The site now lies beneath an office block and an extension of Newton Street. A small plaque marks the spot where the entrance once stood on Little Queen Street. The theatre’s story survives in programmes, reviews and memoirs of Edwardian London. Its place in theatrical history is still recognised by scholars and theatre historians.