Fortune Theatre - History
The Fortune Theatre is found on Russell Street near Covent Garden in London. Its nearest underground station is Covent Garden and its nearest train station is Charing Cross. It is located on the site of the old Albion Tavern.
The Fortune Theatre is an apt title for a venue that opened in the period after World War One, where the country was free from the horrors of battle. It was in fact the first theatre to open after the Great War on Saturday 8th November 1924, though when it initially emerged it was called the Fortune Thriller Theatre. As well as holding this title, it is also the second smallest theatre in the West End with 432 seats.
The theatre was built during the years of 1922 to 1924 by Ernest Schaufelberg for the writer Laurence Cowen. The plans for it were actually then discovered by Richard L Hay who used them to design the Elizabethan Stage at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival in Ashland, Oregon, so the influence of the theatre is felt the world over.
The opening coincided with the start of the play Sinner, the Laurence Cowen written production, which went on for two weeks. Then came the Second World War, during which time the theatre was used by the ENSA, the entertainment side of the armed forces.
Since World War II, a host of well known names have graced the stage of the Fortune, including Dame Judi Dench, Dirk Bogarde and Maureen Lipman. As well as these, the variety act Flanders and Swann played at the theatre as well as Mr Cinders, Double Double, Nunsense, Dangerous Obsessi and Beyond The Fringe, the great show from Cambridge which featured Alan Bennett, Peter Cook, Jonathon Miller and Dudley Moore.
Modern Day
1989 brought with it The Woman In Black, the famous play which has become a mainstay at the theatre ever since as well as becoming a West End legend. As a result, the theatre is usually mentioned in the same breath as the play. It has brought a lot of good publicity to the venue and in July 2001 they celebrated its 5000th performance with a large party. To cement its status further, from the 9th to the 13th September of 2008, the show was performed in Japanese with Takaya Kamikaya and Haruhito Saito to celebrate 150 years of diplomatic ties with the UK and Japan. The Woman In Black was adapted by Stephen Mallatratt from the book of the same name by Susan Hill.
Today, with this play still running strong, the theatre is under the ownership of The Ambassador Theatre Group along with nine other West End theatres.
The building itself features a figurine known as the Terpsichore high above the entrance, which was sculpted by M H Crichton and in 1994 the venue was given Grade II listed building status by English Heritage.
