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The Dictionary of Sydney
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Theatre Royal King Street entrance 1882

Theatre Royal King Street entrance 1882

From the collections of the

State Library of New South Wales

[a1528418 / SPF/Sydney/Theatres/Theatre Royal, 1882]

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Sydney's lost theatres Theatre Theatre Royal

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State Library of New South Wales

Theatre

European theatre in Sydney began before the first Fleet made landfall, with a convict play on board the Scarborough. While theatre was always popular, a commercial theatre scene did not emerge until the 1830s, and theatrical fortunes rose and fell with the city's prosperity.

Theatre Royal

Built on the site of the Prince of Wales Theatre, which had been destroyed by fire in 1872, the Theatre Royal opened in 1875 and was central to Sydney's theatrical world for nearly a century.

Sydney's lost theatres

Theatres operated on more than two dozen sites in Sydney in the period 1796 to the 1930s. Only two of these sites still function as commercial theatres today, indicating a significant loss of the city's cultural memory.

Theatre

Public building

Theatre Royal

Theatre in Castlereagh Street that hosted drama, vaudeville and cinema from 1875 until it was demolished in 1972.

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