Theatre Royal, Aldershot

The Theatre Royal stood at the corner of Gordon Road and Birchett Road in Aldershot, Hampshire. It replaced an earlier music hall destroyed by fire in 1889. Designed by theatre architects Bertie Crewe and W. G. R. Sprague, the building opened in 1891. The stage measured 24 feet wide and 26 feet deep with flies 32 feet high. Eight dressing rooms and a manager’s office served the company, while three bars served the audience. The auditorium seated 881 people across stalls, pit, dress circle and gallery.

The theatre drew touring companies including the D’Oyly Carte Opera Company. Charlie Chaplin appeared there in 1904 as Billy the Page Boy in Sherlock Holmes. James Mason is believed to have made his stage début in 1931. Performers such as George Robey, Seymour Hicks and Ellaline Terriss also graced the stage. During World War II the venue hosted revues for a largely male garrison audience.

Today a block of flats called Matinée House stands on the site. The theatre’s final production was the pantomime Aladdin in December 1952. A backstage fire in 1957 hastened its demolition two years later.