{"id":4372,"date":"2016-09-28T09:53:52","date_gmt":"2016-09-28T08:53:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.city-academy.com\/news\/?p=4372"},"modified":"2017-03-21T12:18:23","modified_gmt":"2017-03-21T12:18:23","slug":"city-histories-sadlers-wells","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.city-academy.com\/news\/city-histories-sadlers-wells\/","title":{"rendered":"City Histories: Sadler\u2019s Wells"},"content":{"rendered":"

From\u00a0The Hibernian Cannibal – who\u00a0consumed a live cockerel\u00a0whole\u00a0and then downed it with a pint of brandy –\u00a0topping the bill in May 1699, to Matthew Bourne’s celebrated ballet, Sleeping Beauty, on stage last winter: Sadler’s Wells has lived many lives.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

We take a look at London\u2019s second oldest theatre since the Restoration of the English monarchy, following its long-drawn identity crisis\u00a0before it finally transformed into an iconic dance house.<\/p>\n

Sadler’s Wells has been home to a huge range of City Academy’s\u00a0creative and performing arts classes<\/a>\u00a0over the last 8 years, so we thought it was high time to pay tribute to the rich and intriguing history of one of our premier venues.<\/p>\n

\n

1600s – 1900s<\/h3>\n

Sadler\u2019s Wells is a spring of inspiration, literally.<\/p>\n

Before it became known as the artistic venue it is today, it was a \u2018Musick House\u2019 in the small manor of Isledon (now the borough of Islington), built by Richard Sadler who\u00a0was\u00a0a Surveyor of Highways as well. In 1683, he ordered the gardens be dug up for road construction and there he discovered a monastic spring. Calling upon his storytelling abilities, he claimed the water could remedy “dropsy, jaundice, scurvy, green sickness and other distempers to which females are liable”.<\/p>\n

The well\u2019s supposed medicinal qualities, endorsed by Sadler\u2019s friend and fellow of the College of Physicians, Dr. Morton, brought the property to national attention, with 500-600 of the most aristocratic and fashionable folk flocking in.<\/p>\n

\n

At the turn of the next century, Sadler decided to rival Tunbridge and Epsom wells and put on ballad singers alongside circus acts like juggling, tumbling, rope dancing and wrestling, as well as the obligatory dancing dogs and singing duck.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

However, what was then rural London, suddenly experienced an outbreak of wells, and the exclusivity of Sadler\u2019s Wells\u2019 “sweet gardens and arbours of pleasure” declined, as did the calibre of the clientele and quality of entertainment.<\/p>\n

\"Sadler's

Illustration of the theatre, dated 1730, from the Islington Local History Centre archive<\/p><\/div>\n

By the mid-18th century, Sadler\u2019s Wells\u2019 management decided to do something about its image and attempted to fill the gap left by the two respected Theatres Royal in the centre of the city – Covent Garden and Drury Lane – both of which\u00a0confined operations to autumn and winter. Summer was for the taking. In 1765, the man on the job was Thomas Rosoman, who had the theatre rebuilt so that it could air opera productions to rival the stage dramas of the West End, erecting a new stone facade in just seven weeks and for the sum of \u00a34225, about \u00a3701,350 in today\u2019s money.<\/p>\n

For all of Rosomon\u2019s good intentions, the beer brewed from the spring waters still hogged the limelight, and ultimately stole the show. Despite celebrated thespian, Edmund Kean, and the great clown and comedian, Joseph Grimaldi, gracing its stage, by 1801 the theatre was better known for its spectacles – from scenes of sea battles (naval dramas devised to boost national morale), to entirely accidental stampedes resulting in the deaths of 18 people. \u201cThe theatre was in the condition of being entirely delivered over to as ruffianly an audience as London could shake together\u2026Fights took place anywhere, at every period of the performance\u201d, said Charles Dickens sometime in the 1830s – a period characterised by public drunkenness and uncivilised behaviour that meant patrons had to be escorted after dark.<\/p>\n

\"Samuel

A newspaper headline on Sadler’s Wells’ newly appointed manager, Samuel Phelps – from the Islington Local History Centre collection<\/p><\/div>\n

Following that, Sadler\u2019s Wells enjoyed a brief stint of Shakespeare.\u00a0Thanks to the passing of a parliamentary act, the then actor-manager, Samuel Phelps, was able to break the duopoly of the Theatres Royal and present a famous run in 1843. But it didn\u2019t last long. A mere 20 or so years later, the theatre suffered the indignity\u00a0of being converted, at various points, into a roller-skating rink, a prize fight arena and then a cinema. Wounded after centuries of criticism and declared a dangerous structure; it finally closed its doors in 1915.<\/p>\n

\n

1900s – today<\/h3>\n
\"Lillian

Lillian Baylis – portrait from the Sadler’s Wells collection at Islington Local History Centre<\/p><\/div>\n

That could easily have been the end, but it transpired to be a turning point.\u00a0Angel Station had\u00a0opened at the beginning of the century, creating a direct\u00a0gateway into Islington for the public, and by the late 1920s,\u00a0Lillian Baylis became the most significant person in the modern history of Sadler\u2019s Wells. She had presented drama and opera at the Old Vic, ticketing them at affordable prices that were popular with laymen,<\/strong> and believed that works of art belonged to everybody. In that spirit, she began fundraising to rebuild Sadler\u2019s Wells, joining forces with Ninette de Valois in 1928 to assemble the fifth iteration of the theatre, which opened Twelfth Night to crowds in an interior architected by the prolific Frank Matcham.<\/p>\n

After four years of Vic-Wells drama productions, opera and ballet, Baylis decided to stop shuffling between the two venues and dedicated Sadler\u2019s Wells to opera and ballet, with a new season in the autumn of 1935 that featured the stars of the future, and notably so for critics wooed by \u201cthe splendid dancing of the young newcomer Miss Margot Fonteyn, who has a compelling personality and exceptional gifts, though only just 16.\u201d<\/p>\n

Streamlining was a savvy move; though Britain\u2019s first critically acclaimed opera \u2018Peter Grimes\u2019 later opened at Sadler’s Wells, in retrospect it was the first step to firmly establishing the venue as a specialist dance institution.\u00a0Ninette De Valois was an Anglo-Irish dancer and director of classical ballet who went on to become known as the \u2018godmother\u2019 of ballet (and OM, CH and DBE by 1992). She founded the still renowned Royal Ballet company, and what eventually became the Birmingham Royal Ballet and the Royal Ballet School, from within Sadler\u2019s Wells during World War II. The venue stood firm on its heels at this time and continued its programme of events, as well as acting as a refuge for the homeless.<\/p>\n

By 1970, Rambert Dance and London Contemporary Dance had held residencies at Sadler\u2019s Wells.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\"Coppelia

A ballet troupe in the mid-1900s, performing Coppelia at Sadler’s Wells – from the Islington Local History Centre<\/p><\/div>\n

It\u00a0was in 1994 that the new chief executive, Ian Albery, provided unhindered definition. With \u00a354 million of funding, largely from the National Lottery, to hand, he transformed Sadler\u2019s Wells into a purpose-built dance house. He had a time capsule buried under the centre stalls and called the bulldozers in, resurrecting\u00a0the venue with\u00a0a 15m2 sprung stage and 1500-capacity auditorium, a 200-seater for smaller works, and three rehearsal studios. \u00a0Today, these host artists in residence and community based initiatives, such as City Academy\u2019s Musical Theatre<\/a>, Contemporary Dance<\/a>, and Ballet<\/a> classes – staying true to the mission of democratising the arts.<\/p>\n

Sadler\u2019s Wells now\u00a0has a Grade II listing, as the redesign honours a history of drama both on and off the stage. It gives a nod to the past by preserving the skeleton of the Frank Matcham theatre (which itself retained bricks from the Victorian playhouse), and of course the historic wells. Under\u00a0new directorship that began in 2004 and with a clear, contemporary artistic vision, Sadler\u2019s Wells in the 21st century produces its own outstanding shows, receives touring performances from the UK and abroad, and hosts an annual festival of hip hop dance on a mission to continue to diversify within dance.<\/p>\n

\n

City Academy holds classes at\u00a040 venues across London.\u00a0<\/em>Find out more about our locations<\/a> and courses starting at Sadler’s Wells\u00a0here >>><\/strong><\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

From\u00a0The Hibernian Cannibal – who\u00a0consumed a live cockerel\u00a0whole\u00a0and then downed it with a pint of brandy –\u00a0topping the bill in…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":4388,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[99,132],"tags":[115,11,301,52,123,923,201,924],"yoast_head":"\nCity Histories: Sadler's Wells<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"We take a look at London\u2019s second oldest theatre, Sadler's Wells, and its transformation into a modern-day dance house, and venue for City Academy arts.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.city-academy.com\/news\/city-histories-sadlers-wells\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_GB\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta 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