DRURY LANE THEATRE

opened] in 1663 with Beaumont and Fletcher’s The Humorous Lieutenant; destroyed by fire, 1672; replaced, 1674, by Sir Christopher Wren’s edifice, which was not demolished until 1791. This house saw the triumphs of Quin, Macklin, rick, the unsucce ful first appearance of Sarah Siddons, and the production of some of Sheridan’s comedies. The new house, erected 1794, was burned down in 1809. In the present theatre, which dates from 1812, Edmund Kean took London by storm, 1819; it came under the management of Mac ready in 1841, Dion Boucicault in 1862, and F. B. Chatter ton in 1866. On Nov. 1, 1879, Sir August us Harris began his career of management, and made it the national home of spectacular melodrama. Irving made his farewell appearance in this theatre in 1905.