EXETER
Through the bottom of your
beer glass
Theatre Royal
The Theatre Royal opened on 13th October 1886 and was Exeter's fourth theatre. Less than
a year after it opened it was burned out during a performance of Romany Rye. 188 people were burned to death,
the building holds the record for the most deaths in a single building in the UK. After repairs, the building
was re-opened and could hold 1500 people but all the seats were rarely filled and for this reason the theatre
eventually failed. The Theatre Royal closed in 1962.
During the 4th act of Romany Rye on the fateful evening of 5th September 1887, various mishaps
occurred during scene changes behind the closed cutains of the stage. Heat from a gas mantle above the stage
ignited a canvas 'act drop', which fell onto the stage narrowly missing one of the cast. A fire began to rage
behind the curtain. The cast escaped through the stage door without informing the audience. You
never can trust these arty types.
The cutain eventually bulged out billowing dense smoke into the auditorium. It was the smoke that did much of the damage to the audience's hopes of escape, however the theatre very soon became a raging inferno. Those in the stalls were afforded a relatively easy escape, but those in the gallery only had one exit and it was from this part of the theatre that most of the fatalities came. Most were asphyxiated and then burned.
At the time, Exeter did not have its own fire service as such but relied on the Insurance Company Fire Brigades. Fire fighting in this case was the responsibility of The Sun and the West of England Brigades. A military brigade from Higher Barracks also helped together with a Railway Staff outfit and the Topsham Fire Brigade. There was only one escape ladder in the whole of the City but builders ladders were easy to find but next to useless. Many people died falling or jumping to their death from balconies and the roof.Bodies were laid out in the London Inn yard to await identification. By midnight there were 70 bodies with a pile of bodies still to be recovered from the Gallery staircase. By 6 AM there were 106 bodies laid out in the yard. 123 were eventually recovered that were recognisable. A further 65 were identified by their remains and a list of 'missing'.
In 1889 a fifth Exeter theatre was opened on the same site as the Theatre Royal using the same name and making use of the original walls. This new theatre boasted many real fire-safety improvements including a fire-proof curtain, electric and gas lighting.The Theatre Royal Fire led to a complete overhaul of Theatre Fire-Safety regulations covering all London Theatres and elsewhere in the country and also led to the formation of Exeter's own City Fire Service.
During 1963, the theatre was demolished to make way for the current office block on the New North Road / Longbrook Street corner, Portland House. This building was originally occupied by the Prudential Assurance Company.
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Stuart Callon Copyright ©2002