Scala Theatre

The Scala Theatre stood in Charlotte Street, just off Tottenham Court Road in the London Borough of Camden. It began in 1772 as concert rooms in Tottenham Street, later enlarged by James Wyatt and renamed the King’s Concert Rooms. By 1802 it became a private theatre club called the Cognoscenti Theatre, then a circus in 1808 before being fitted up as a proper theatre in 1810. The building changed hands many times, operating under names like the Regency Theatre and Queen’s Theatre before becoming known as The Dusthole for its lurid melodramas. In 1865 it was rebuilt with an elegant interior and reopened as the Prince of Wales’s Royal Theatre. The theatre’s golden years came under Marie Wilton and H. J. Byron, who staged groundbreaking plays by T. W. Robertson that reshaped English drama. Robertson’s Society ran for 150 performances in 1865, while other hits included W. S. Gilbert’s Sweethearts and Lytton’s Money. The Bancrofts took over in 1867, presenting domestic comedies that drew leading actors like Ellen Terry and John Hare. Edgar Bruce later managed the theatre, scoring a hit with The Colonel, which ran for 550 performances. Visitors found a theatre with a richly decorated auditorium and a stage that hosted major works of the 19th century. The interior, designed by Frank Verity in 1905, was praised as the most beautiful in London. Later it showed early colour films and hosted wartime performances, including Peter Pan from 1945 until its closure in 1969. Though demolished, the site now holds Scala House, where the Scala Cinema once showed avant-garde films in its basement.