Prince of Wales Theatre, Cardiff

Wood Street façade

The Prince of Wales Theatre is a former theatre in central Cardiff. Built in 1878 seating 2,800, it later became a sex cinema. It is now a pub.[1][2][3]

The building is located near Cardiff Central railway station, near the corner of St Mary Street and Wood Street, with entrances and façades on both streets.

Architecture

St Mary Street façade

The theatre was built in 1878 to a Venetian Gothic design by the architects W. D. Bleasley and T. Waring,[4] during a period of rapid expansion of Cardiff, then a prosperous coal-exporting port. The building was a prompt replacement Cardiff's old Theatre Royal (built 1827, which had burnt down in December) doubling the audience capacity to almost 2000, and was opened on 7 October 1878.[5][6] The main stage was 56 feet wide and 46 feet deep, framed by a 30 feet high proscenium arch topped with the royal coat of arms. Interior decoration was in gold and white and the building was illuminated after dark using 800 gas lamps.[6]

The theatre was later rebuilt in the Greek Revival style to a design by Willmott & Smith. An additional entrance on St Mary Street was added with two large fluted Doric columns flanking a neoclassical statue of a young woman holding a cup. The interior of the theatre was remodelled in 1920 in the same Greek style. The proscenium arch is flanked by massive Ionic columns carrying a large triangular pediment with an elaborate Grecian bas-relief frieze above.[1]

In 1988 the interior was divided into multiple spaces for a variety of uses, including an amusement arcade and a pub. This largely obscured the original interior. The interior was again altered in 1999, converting the entire space into a pub and partly restoring the 1920 interior.[1]

The building was designated a Grade II listed building in 1960.[7]

History

Interior showing the proscenium arch

In 1970 the Welsh Theatre Company was planning to move to the theatre, but this was abandoned.[3]

Notable productions

The opening production in 1878 was Pygmalion and Galatea by W. S. Gilbert.

The Welsh National Opera company's opening performance was at the theatre in 1946, when Cavalleria Rusticana was performed. The Welsh tenor Robert Tear, then a schoolboy, started his career in this performance.[8]

Performers

Advertisement (1882)

Several stars appeared in person at the theatre, including:

Binkie Beaumont (1908–1973) was appointed assistant manager of the theatre at the age of 16. This led to his career as a producer in London's West End.[9]

Coordinates: 51°28′39″N 3°10′40″W / 51.47750°N 3.17790°W / 51.47750; -3.17790

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References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 "Prince of Wales (Cardiff)". The Theatres Trust. Retrieved 25 May 2014.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 Traynor, Mary (23 Oct 1976). "Long live the Prince of Wales!". Western Mail.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Cole, Deborah (8 Feb 1988). "Theatre's Last Curtain". Western Mail.
  4. ↑ Newman, John (1995). The Buildings of Wales – Glamorgan. London: Penguin / University of Wales Press. p. 214. ISBN 0 14 071056 6. Retrieved 29 July 2015.
  5. ↑ "Destruction Of The Cardiff Theatre". The Era. 16 December 1877. p. 5 – via British Newspaper Archive. (subscription required (help)).
  6. 1 2 "The New Theatre Royal, Cardiff". Western Mail. 1 October 1878. p. 4 – via British Newspaper Archive. (subscription required (help)).
  7. ↑ "Former Prince of Wales Theatre, Castle". British Listed Buildings. Retrieved 29 July 2015.
  8. ↑ "Welsh opera companies". BBC.
  9. ↑ Wardle, Irving. "Beaumont, Hughes Griffiths [Hugh; Binkie] (1908–1973)". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/30802. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
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