Jane Austen loved watching theatre, and the main understanding of this comes from her letters to her sister Cassandra in which there are multiple mentions of her enjoyment of theatre. The history of theatre in Bath is one of the multiple buildings being built in succession. In 1705, Bath’s first theatre was built by George Trim. It was a tiny one and was demolished 30 years later to make way for another building. The next one didn’t last many years and in 1750, a new theatre was opened at Orchard Street. The theatre with its superb productions had built the reputation of Bath as a receptive town for theatre which resulted in many top actors from London performing at Bath during season. Given this growing respectability and reputation, a parliament act was passed to give Bath theatre a royal patent and Bath had the first ‘Theatre Royal’ outside of London.

In 1804, there were plans to build a bigger, better and improved theatre. The Orchard Street Theatre was closed, and today there is a Masonic Hall. The new building was completed in one year and was opened in 1805 with a performance of Richard III. The building that stands is the same one, though it was refurbished in 2010. There are many quality productions through the year, including some special events like the Summer Season, Shakespeare Unplugged Festival and Family Theatre Festival. There are also special shows for children in the egg theatre. To get a better peep into Jane’s world don’t miss catching a production here.