Opening Night of the Britannia Theatre, Hoxton, reported in The Era, November 14, 1858

Opening Night of the Britannia Theatre, Hoxton, reported in The Era, November 14, 1858

The ERA 14 November 1858 reported on the opening of the Britannia Theatre, Hoxton in their edition saying: ' Whatever may have been the anticipations of the most sanguine of those that come to behold the new and splendid theatre which Mr. Lane had erected on the site of the old Britannia Saloon - now, with the Lord Chamberlain's sanction, licensed to assume its prouder and more appropriate designation - we will venture to say that those expectations must have been more than realized by the elegance and the magnitude of the edifice in which they found themselves. It must be some eighteen years ago, to borrow a popular line from the melodramatic repertory, since we first went forth into the then almost unexplored region of Hoxton to visit the spacious establishment which was, at that period, of itself a wonder, newly founded by Mr. Samuel Lane for the amusement of the population more especially belonging to this district. The theatre was then equal to most minor theatres; the pieces, chiefly based on subjects and legends of local interest, were written, and well written, for the purpose, and more attention was paid to scenic and spectacular effect than was at that time to be observed at places of far higher pretensions. Gradually the audience came to understand the economy and enjoyment of an evening passed within its walls, and as the throng of visitors was increased by those who had found the fame of its productions penetrating the very heart of the metropolis, the limits of the original building were enlarged, its attractions multiplied, and new exertions were found necessary to provide sufficiency of accommodation for the substantial evidence if this extension of patronage.