Royal Court Liverpool - a brief history

In its early years the site of the Royal Court seemed haunted by disaster. After incarnations as Cookes New Circus in 1826 and Cookes Royal Amphitheatre of the Arts in 1830 it was eventually christened the Royal Court Theatre in 1881. In 1933 a fire completely destroyed the building but construction began in March 1938 to ensure the theatre was rebuilt and reopened in October of the same year.

From this time onwards the theatre attracted a wide variety of shows, including plays, ballets and musical events including Ken Dodd arranging a four month run of his show The Ken Dodd Laughter Spectacular a guaranteed success given his celebrity status.

In 1980 two former Liverpool taxi drivers took the Royal Court in a new direction, moving away from traditional plays and instead transferring the focus to rock and pop concerts. Their first year ended promisingly and proved to be a successful strategy for the venue, which went on to play host to artists as internationally famous as R.E.M, David Bowie and George Michael.

The past decade has seen a return to the varied programme the theatre was so proud of in its early years and with Royal Court Liverpool Ltd taking the helm the next few years promise more of the best in comedy, music and theatre being brought into the Capital of Culture.