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4 unusual facts about Dorset Garden Theatre


Albion and Albanius

In terms of production the opera was a restoration spectacular, visuals included much mere mythological display to take advantage of the "machines" at the Dorset Garden Theatre, such as "The clouds divide, and Juno appears in a machine drawn by peacocks: while a symphony is playing, it moves gently forward, and as it descends, it opens and discovers the tail of the peacock, which is so large that it almost fills the opening of the stage between scene and scene" (Act I).

After the period of court mourning for the late King and many other delays, the sumptuous production (costing the company over £4000 to mount) had its premiere on Sunday, 3 June that same year at Dorset Garden Theatre, London.

Elizabeth Polwheele

Her comedy The Frolicks was performed at the Dorset Garden Theatre in 1671; it features Claribell, a witty Restoration heroine, and Rightwit, a rake.

United Company

The King's Company theatre, the Theatre Royal in Drury Lane, was used mainly for plays, while the Duke's Dorset Garden Theatre was devoted to operas and spectaculars.


1673 in England

3 July - Elkanah Settle's play The Empress of Morocco first publicly performed at the Dorset Garden Theatre in London by the Duke's Company and published with illustrations.


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