The ticket price riots of 1809

Georgian theatre was popular with everyone from all social classes. In 1809 Covent Garden was one of only two London theatres where they could go to see a play.

So when the theatre's management tried to increase the ticket prices following a costly rebuild it wasn't a popular move...

Covent Garden theatre had just been rebuilt in a spectacular fashion after a disastrous fire

Unfortunately Drury Lane, the other licensed theatre, had recently burned down.

So for a while the newly rebuilt Convent Garden was the only theatre where the public of London could go to see plays.

Small wonder that seats for the grand opening were in high demand.

Macbeth was a popular choice, and it featured Mrs Siddons, the leading actress of the time, in her most acclaimed role, that of Lady Macbeth.

The management - keenly aware of the clamour to see the new theatre - were counting the cost of months of building work.

In the playbill they argue their case for the ticket increases – the cost of the new building is one hundred and fifty thousand pounds, the rent has increased sixfold, then there are costs for “Every article indispensable to dramatic representations” for the creation of a sumptuous theatre “an additional ornament to the Metropolis of the British Empire”.

What this hyperbole actually meant was higher ticket prices, a reduction in the size of the gallery – which was the cheapest place to sit – and an increase in the size of the private boxes which were taken by rich spectators.

The O.P. and N.P. Spectacles by George and Isaac Cruikshank 1809 © Victoria &Albert Museum, London

Prices rose from six shillings to seven shillings for these boxes and three and six to four shillings for the pit and the third tier. Although prices for the gallery remained the same, it was so high and the rake so steep that the audience could only see the legs of the performers.

The “enlightened and liberal Public” referred to on this poster, were having none of it. When the theatre manager, John Kemble, stepped up on stage the applause quickly turned to hissing and yelling and the magistrates were called to read the riot act.

Similar disturbances continued on subsequent nights – the OPs (as the old price rioters called themselves) banged pots and pans together, carried banners, and sang songs – anything to disrupt the actors onstage.

Most of the riots took place in the pit or the floor of the theatre, which, with its best view of the stage, was where the most discriminating members of the audience sat on simple wooden benches.

The riots were about more than rising prices: at their heart was the principle that all social classes, regardless of wealth and status, should have the right to see classic drama such as Shakespeare.

On 14 December 1809, Kemble gave in, announced a return to the previous prices, and dropped all charges against the rioters.

The British government feared the rioters would pursue other, weightier causes like the price of bread or the war with France, but this did not happen.

The theatre was closed while a committee discussed the issue. When they supported the new prices rises, the riots started again.