Guided Tours Of The Richmond Theatre

In the centre of Richmond is a grand theatre that recently marked its 125th anniversary, and they offer tours of the building.

The Richmond Theatre opened in 1899 as the Richmond Theatre and Opera House. Designed by the prolific theatre builder, Frank Matcham, barring some modest changes, it’s pretty much still the same theatre that opened over 125 years ago.

A few changes are pointed out in a tour – such as the decently sympathetic extension to one side to create more space, and as with most old theatres, it has a lot fewer seats than it used to have back in the days when people accepted sitting on narrow benches.

The grand entrance used to have a glass canopy, but that was later replaced with a rather odd circus tent, which was fortunately removed in the 1990s.

The tour takes in the history of the building, the restoration in the early 1990s, a Laurence Llewelyn-Bowen painted mural and how the box office used to be split into cheap and posh tickets back when posh people wouldn’t expect to be in the same queue as the poor people.

There’s a chance to see the VIP room, some back stairs and spaces and, depending on availability (not on my visit), stand on the stage.

It’s also where I learned the origins of the phrase “break a leg”, the lamp that is never turned off, and a building this old naturally has a resident ghost.

It’s very much a history and architecture tour, and while some celeb name-dropping takes place, it’s quite low-key. Which is a good thing, as a celeb name-dropping tour can be insufferably dull if you’ve come to look at the building.

The tour lasts around 60-90 minutes, depending on group size etc, and photos are permitted everywhere so long as they don’t include costumes or stage sets.