CHAPTER VIII.

PITT STREET.--ROYAL VICTORIA THEATER.

Retracing our steps from the eastern termination of King Street, we return to its intersection with Pitt Street. The accompanying embellishment comprehends the elevations of the buildings in this Street, proceeding southward from King Street to Market Street; a line which may, on many accounts, claim to be considered one of the most remarkable localities in Sydney, and where, particularly in the evening, when the Theatre is open, among the blaze of gas from the splendid and glittering shops, the music and bustle attending the movements of a crowd bent on its evening's amusement, and those of the multitude still busied in closing the avocations of the day, the new arrival from London may recognise the most striking features of that great City united in the varied scene around him; on a diminutive scale, it is true, as compared with those of the metropolis of the world, but nevertheless the identical features in miniature. He will here find a combination of Bond Street and Drury Lane, while the scene is sprinkled with a sufficiency of blue and red jackets to give it a slight touch of Wapping and Tothill Fields, divested of their grosser and objectionable peculiarities. This portion of the Street presents on the whole the most continuous lines of buildings, perhaps, which can be found in Sydney, and offers fewer objects calculated to remind the new corner that he is in a young town. Selected by the purveyors to beauty and fashion as the mart for displaying their tempting wares, articles are there displayed to attract and tempt the eye, as well as some of the best specimens of domestic architecture which the town affords. Among these, four houses, built under the superintendence of Mr. Duer, Architect, deserve to be particularised on account of the good taste displayed {page 32} in the design, and the excellence of the work and materials employed. The fronts are bold and lofty, faced with fine brick with massive stone dressings and cornices. The spirited proprietor, Mr. Moffitt, deserves great credit for the liberality with which he has contributed towards ornamenting the city. There are also some other good specimens of building, including the Theatre and its dependencies, but for these we reserve a special notice. Among the objects well deserving inspection is the Shakspeare Saloon, (erected in 1846 by its spirited proprietor, Mr. Knight), concealed within the modest exterior of the Shakspeare Tavern, where the visitor is surprised to find a well proportioned apartment lighted from the roof, richly and artistically decorated with designs from some of the most striking scenes in the Bard of Avon's matchless works, painted as vignettes in compartments, upon the walls. These designs sprang from the fanciful pencil of Mr. A. Torning, who was assisted in the execution of them by Messrs. Newall and Balcomb, whose names are registered in the archives of Colonial Art.

Royal Victoria Theatre (interior), Plate 32AWe now turn to the Victoria Theatre, the interior of which forms the subject of one of the pictorial illustrations of the present number. Before, however, entering upon a detailed description of this elegant edifice, it may not be uninteresting to trace the early, rude, and unformed efforts of the dramatic art in this Colony, through their various phases, until they reached the high position of the present day. It is needless to enter into a lengthy dissertation upon the humanizing influences which the drama exercises over mankind: the eloquence of the orator, the philosopher, the poet, and the historian is raised in its laudation; and if they fail to convince, the intense sympathy which the Theatre finds with the people is an unerring testimony of its value. Sergeant Talfourd, one of the first dramatists and lawyers of the day, in descanting upon the subject, with all the feeling of an enthusiastic and powerful mind, writes thus:--"Surely the art which separates, as by a divine alchymy, the artificial from {page 33} real in humanity--which supplies, to the artisan in the capital, the place of those woods, and free airs, and mountain streams, which insensibly harmonise the peasant's character--which gives the poorest to feel the old grandeur of tragedy, sweeping by with sceptred path--which makes the heart of the child leap with strange joy, and enables the old man to fancy himself again a child--is worthy of no mean place among the arts which refine our manners, by exulting our conception." This opinion is particularly echoed in the bosoms of the sons of Britain. It is not, therefore, to be wondered at that the first wretched exiles who came into the Colony should have endeavoured to relieve the monotony of a bush life, and to divert their minds from brooding over unpleasant reflections, by getting up a dramatic entertainment. The scale was humble enough, consisting, in the first instance, of mere recitations from well-known authors; these subsequently grew into attempts to produce complete dramas; and singular to relate, in 1826, during the dynasty of General Darling, the Gaol of Sydney was turned into a Temple of Thespis; the debtors' room afforded the arena; and persons of the highest standing in the town were not ashamed to witness the crude representations or these dramatic enthusiasts.
It was some years subsequently to this that his Excellency Sir Richard Bourke granted Mr. Barnett Levy a license for dramatic performances, with a restriction that he should confine himself to the representation of such pieces only as had been licensed in England, by the Lord Chamberlain. Mr. Levy was at that time the owner of the original Royal Hotel, in George Street, and he fitted up the Saloon of that establishment as a Theatre, where the first specimens of the legitimate drama were exhibited in the Colony. The encouragement which this untertaking received induced the spirited Proprietor to enlarge his sphere of action. He caused a Theatre to be built, which was termed the "Theatre Royal," and opened it at the latter end of the year 1833, with the best company that could be {page 34} collected. The first Manager was Mr. Meredith, who, at that time, acquired some celebrity for his personation of old men, but he has since retired, for the most part, from the stage. This gentleman was succeeded in his office by Mr. Simmons, who seceded, after a management of some two or three years, when the Theatre fell into the hands of Mr. Joseph Wyatt, one of the Proprietors of the Victoria Theatre in Pitt Street, the interior of which is the subject of our pictorial illustration.
The foundation stone of this latter building was laid on the 7th September, 1836, by Mr. R. Broad; the architect was Mr. Henry Robertson, many structures from whose hand now ornament the metropolis. The exterior of the building presents an extremely chaste appearance, and is more imposing than if a more florid style of architecture had been adopted. The entrance to the Dress Circle and Upper Boxes is enclosed by a pair of handsome and elaborately designed iron gates; on either side of them are two handsome shops, one of which is occupied as a Tavern, by Mr. Wyatt, and the other by Mr. Blyth, a Confectioner. The entrances to the Pit and Gallery are most conveniently placed on the north side. The size of the Theatre is 100 feet by 50; the stage is 47 feet broad, and 100 feet in depth, 60 feet having been added to the original design, by throwing open some premises at the back. For greater convenience, the Green Room, Dressing Rooms, Scene Painter's Room, and other necessary apartments, although in immediate contiguity with the main building, do not form any portion of it. The interior of the house is arranged into the Upper and Dress Circle, with an extensive Pit and Gallery. The Boxes will hold about 550 people, the Pit 1000, and the Gallery 350, making in all 2000 individuals; but even more than that number have been in the house on particular occasions. The Theatre was opened on the 17th of March, 1838, Mr. Wyatt having offered its service gratuitously for a public ball, in commemoration of the patron Saint of Ireland. In a few days afterwards the performances commenced with an excellent company, and have {page 35} continued with signal success until the present day. Several changes have occured in the Proprietorship and Management of the Theatre since its opening; the former is now in the hands of Messrs. Wyatt and Knight, while the Stage direction vests in Mr. Griffiths.
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