The New Gaiety Theatre

The New Gaiety Theatre

Ernest Runtz, with elevations by Richard Norman Shaw

From a painting by the French illustrator, J. André Castaigne (1861-1929)

1902-03 (painting, 1905)

Corner of the Strand and Aldwych

London WC2

This atmospheric evening scene shows businessmen returning from the City in horse-drawn cabs and omnibuses, men carrying advertising boards, perhaps for shows, and a brightly lit theatre on the corner of Aldwych, opposite Waterloo Bridge. In the middle distance stands the early nineteenth-century church of St Mary-le-Strand by James Gibbs, just as it does today. The theatre, however, is long gone. [continued below]

Image acquired, with thanks, from the Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division, Reproduction No.: LC-USZ62-93896. Text by Jacqueline Banerjee.