# data[].attributes.headline
The Royal Opera House is an opera house and major performing arts venue in Covent Garden, central London. The large building is often referred to as simply "Covent Garden", after a previous use of the site of the opera house's original construction in 1732.It is the home of The Royal Opera, The Royal Ballet, and the Orchestra of the Royal Opera House.

# data[].attributes.subject
The Royal Opera House is an opera house and major performing arts venue in Covent Garden, central London. The large building is often referred to as simply "Covent Garden", after a previous use of the site of the opera house's original construction in 1732.It is the home of The Royal Opera, The Royal Ballet, and the Orchestra of the Royal Opera House.

# data[].attributes.body
You can read about Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre.
Click here!

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
For its first eighteen seasons, performances were engineered to duplicate the original environment of Shakespeare's Globe; there were no spotlights, and plays were staged during daylight hours and in the evenings (with the help of interior floodlights), there were no microphones, speakers or amplification.

# data[].attributes.headline
Park Theatre described as "a neighbourhood theatre with global ambition," it offers a mixed programme of new writing, classics, and revivals. As well as the main auditorium seating 200, the building includes a 90-seat studio theatre, a rehearsal space and a Café Bar.

# data[].attributes.subject
Park Theatre described as "a neighbourhood theatre with global ambition," it offers a mixed programme of new writing, classics, and revivals. As well as the main auditorium seating 200, the building includes a 90-seat studio theatre, a rehearsal space and a Café Bar.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Park Theatre opened on 8 May 2013 in Finsbury Park, London. Described as "a neighbourhood theatre with global ambition," it offers a mixed programme of new writing, classics, and revivals. As well as the main auditorium seating 200, the building includes a 90-seat studio theatre, a rehearsal space and a Café Bar.

# data[].attributes.headline
You can read the history of the British theater.Scan this QR code.

# data[].attributes.subject
You can read the history of the British theater.Scan this QR code.

# data[].attributes.body
A history of British theatre

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Academic consultant Dr Victoria Price Theatre studies lecturer

The bright lights of the British stage

British theatre has a rich history, from playwrights like William Shakespeare to actors like Laurence Olivier. Today audiences still love to go to the theatre to be entertained and challenged, hearing ideas that may not be expressed anywhere else.

But it wasn't always like that. Initially theatre was used by the church and royalty to spread their ideas. Gradually it became a vehicle to make everyone's voice heard. So how did this come about?

Religion and the beginning of British theatre

During the upheaval of the medieval period the church used religious stories as a way of controlling and distracting the country.

Theatre essentially grew out of this religious storytelling. Entertaining the public became necessary especially after the trauma of the Black Death. Plays took the form of mystery cycles and miracle plays. Mystery cycles dramatised stories from the Bible, while miracle plays told stories about the lives of saints. Parishes created these plays in order to communicate moral lessons to society. Through these organised performances, the concept of theatre began to take root in Britain.
V&A Museum: Early theatre

Royalty and entertainment

After centuries of religious inspiration for theatre, Henry VIII banned all religious performances to prevent plays from spreading Catholicism.

He had set up his own church - the Church of England - and demanded his people follow this faith instead. Post Reformation plays instead aimed to entertain influential people and foreign VIPs. Theatre flourished in the 16th Century and The Theatre, one of the first purpose- built playhouses, opened its doors in London in 1576.

All the world's a stage, And all the men and women merely players

William Shakespeare, As You Like It

Whilst posterity shall behold him [Garrick] as an inimitable actor, they will no less admire him as a good man.

Letter from Sir John Fielding to Mr Garrick, The Private Correspondence of David Garrick

Kitchen sink dramas

Interest in the arts grew in post-war Britain and audiences were keen to see stories that they identified with. 'Kitchen sink' dramas provided them.

Almost a century on from Robertson's naturalist plays, this new style of play, showed working class life in a level of detail that was still unusual. Men Should Weep by Ena Lamont Stewart premiered in 1947 and told a bleak tale of poverty in 1930s Glasgow. Also in the 1950s writers like John Osborne and Shelagh Delaney were acclaimed for the social realism of their work. The success of Lamont Stewart and Delaney helped pave the way for other women to make their voices heard on the stage.

A thrilling verbatim theatre piece with an ensemble of precision and passion.

Charles Spencer, theatre critic for the Telegraph, reviewing Black Watch

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Break a leg: A history of British theatre

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Academic consultant Dr Victoria Price Theatre studies lecturer British theatre has a rich history, from playwrights like William Shakespeare to actors like Laurence Olivier. Today audiences still love to go to the theatre to be entertained and challenged, hearing ideas that may not be expressed anywhere else. But it wasn't always like that.