Moor Street Theatre

The Moor Street Theatre was the first regular playhouse in Birmingham. It stood in a small yard between Moor Street and Park Street, north of the Bull Ring. The building opened in 1740 with an oratorio performed by singers and instrumentalists. Inside there were boxes, a pit, a balcony and two galleries. Backstage machinery shows it was a large and well-equipped space for its time. The theatre relied on a legal trick to survive. Plays themselves were given free, but music during the interval was charged. Top seats cost two shillings and sixpence, so audiences were well-off. Performances followed David Garrick’s style, with costumes matching the plays. John Ward ran the theatre in the 1740s and built Birmingham’s first professional company, the Warwickshire Company of Comedians. In 1751 Richard Yates and actors from Drury Lane arrived for a season. Their success led to a permanent move to Moor Street. Two years later Yates opened the larger King Street Theatre nearby. Unable to compete, Moor Street closed in 1763 and became a Methodist chapel the next year. John Wesley preached there, though some townspeople disagreed with the change and stoned the worshippers as they left.