OCA – Theatre Royal

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Another organised day out thanks to my old School – Selhurst Grammar School for Boys and The Old Croydonians’ Association. Today, it was a behind-the-scenes tour of the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane.

We set off from home just before 10am, heading for Huntingdon Station. It’s become our ‘go to’ station-of-travel in recent years when heading for the capital due to better parking, cheaper rail ticket prices and generally much more ticket flexibility. OK, we first needed to drive there, but it’s only 30-or-so minutes and (touch wood) we’ve never had a bad run yet!

I wouldn’t say we’re ‘theatre luvvies’, but we’ve been to quite a few Theatres in the capital over the years – but never this one.

These OCA events are always worth looking forward to – not just because it’s an opportunity to meet up with old school chums but to ‘dig deeper’ into places that wouldn’t usually be on our radar. So far, thanks to the good work of the OCA looking after us old boys – and girls! – in recent years, we’ve enjoyed visits to:-

St Bride’s Church (February 2026)
Fulham Palace (September 2025)
Hidden Greenwich (September 2024)
Backstage at the National Theatre (February 2024) – we missed that one!
Behind the Scenes at the Royal Opera House (October 2023)

We’re now building up quite a list! 👍😊, and as usual at these events, there’s always time for pre-meet over an informal meal beforehand. Today was no exception as we took the short walk from Covent Garden Tube to the nearby Prince of Wales Pub in Drury Lane.

Prince of Wales

We arrived just before 12.15 where OCAer John Wade introduced himself and set the scene for this special day.

We’d been here before on the previous OCA trip to the Royal Opera House, and it was good to be back in a Pub that typifies ‘old London’.

The food punched well above its weight, and despite the hostelry’s size, there was plenty of seating. It was popular too for that time of day (but thankfully, not too popular!). For us, it was perfect! Meanwhile, elsewhere, because of the expected numbers and differing food tastes, there was also a second gathering of ex-pupils at nearby La Ballerina in Bow Lane. As always, it was good to see some very familiar faces – Cortland, Valerie, Roger, John, John, Caroline, and many other faces from previous events and my school days – can it be 50 years since I left? (err, yes, ‘fraid so! 🤔)

After the perfect antidote to WeightWatchers (yes, we did have a pud too!) and the opportunity to have a longer natter with those assembled, we decided to stretch our legs in the vain attempt to burn off the meal (really!?!?) 😯

Twenty minutes later, and now at least an ounce lighter than when we left the Prince of Wales, we arrived at the Theatre. Just from the outside, it looked impressive, but the very best was yet to come – the interior. 😊

Theatre Royal Drury Lane

First, the shortest of history lessons: The Theatre Royal, Drury Lane was opened in 1812, and is the most recent of four theatres that have stood at the location since 1663, making it the oldest theatre site in London still in use. It recently underwent a massive refurbishment at a personal cost to the owner of £60m.

And as we were about to discover, this was no ordinary London Theatre 👍👍

In total, there were around 20 of us eager to learn about the inner workings of this famous establishment. Sensibly, we were split into two roughly equal-sized groups, where Ann and I were put in the ‘first’ group, meaning we finish sooner, making it easier for our train connections. In many respects, getting in and out of London these days by train is a breeze compared with when I worked in the capital, but timing is everything!

Alan introduced himself as our Tour Guide. He turned out to be the perfect host, and we sensed an actor fighting to get out (or get in!).

In fact, his delivery, for us, was so engaging, I was caught up in the drama of it all instead of taking photographs. So, the photo stock may have come up short for today’s outing, but our appreciation of this wonderful building more than made up for it!

Here are some of the takeaways for us:-

🏦 Recently refurbished in 2021 WITHOUT the need for any grants or loans
🤝 Thank you, Lord Webber for the £60m! (the owner)
👏 The restoration returned the Theatre to its 19th-century look
👍 Immaculate from top to bottom, it looked like it opened yesterday!
🔎 Luxurious Ladies Loos (no, I didn’t check personally!)
👻 A very haunted Theatre and a place full of ghosts
⚙️ The Stage that was a technological marvel – and very large!
👌🏼 Proper legroom for the audience

If the interior that the public usually sees was jaw-droppingly gorgeous, there was more to enjoy – behind (and under) the scenes. Alan first took us into the Theatre seating and explained the layout changes during the refurb: first, seats with proper legroom, next, no ‘restricted view’ seats and best of all, the upper seating had been moved closer to the stage. The result? The Theatre now offers just under 2000 (1981?) ‘proper’ seats!

Then it was down, down and down further as we headed beneath the stage and into the oldest parts of the building. Complete with a slightly spooky flickering overhead light to set the mood, we learned more about the resident ghosts! 👻👻👻👻. The Theatre is generally considered to be the most haunted theatre in the UK, and whether that’s all part of the clever branding or a genuine part of its 350-year history, it made for an (even more) engaging experience! 😯. I’ll spare you the spooky details here, but the Theatre has more than its fair share of occasional apparitions, including: Dan Leno (Panto Dame) and the ‘Man in Grey’. Oh! and the smell of Lavender. Even our Guide mentioned he’d seen one of the spooky residents!

On the slightly more surreal side, we got to see a very special chair – a gift to the Theatre – that belonged to Adolph Hitler taken from the Reichstag! How very strange! 😯. We also took a look inside a restored Dressing Room with the helpful advice from Alan about NOT leaving your makeup out overnight (yes, one of the resident ghosts again! 😯)

Typically, as with all enjoyable events, the 90 minutes passed in a flash. As we said our goodbyes to the group, we reflected on today’s experience. The OCA events have always been well-organised and interesting (thanks Bob, I’m sure you’re looking down on us, with an approving smile 😊), but today was probably the best so far, for us. We were impressed with the Theatre from start to finish – and Alan had really brought the building alive (except for the ghosts, of course! 😂).

Thanks to everyone at the OCA who made today possible – and to Alan who entertained and educated us in equal measure. We won’t forget this Theatre in a hurry, and we’re even tempted to get onto their mailing list for future productions.

Now all we needed to do was to hope that all our train connections worked! They did, and we arrived home just before 6pm. Here’s to the next one! 👌🏼👍👏 (Note to self: Take more photos!!!).