The Association has booked a guided tour of Smock Alley Theatre for Tuesday 15th March at 11am followed by lunch at 12.30 (see www.smockalley.com). We will meet beforehand from 10.30am in the Queen of Tarts café in Cows Lane (see http://www.queenoftarts.ie/contact.36.html).
Smock Alley was the first Theatre Royal built in Dublin. It opened in 1662 as part of the Restoration of the British monarchy and King Charles 11 in 1660, along with London’s Drury Lane (1662). It was the first custom-built theatre in the city and still remains in substantially the same form, making it an important site in European theatre history.
Smock Alley offers full tours of its buildings which trace the history of Smock Alley from its construction as the Theatre Royal in 1662 up to the present day. The tour of the theatre incorporates its entire 350 year history from its foundation as the first Theatre Royal ever built outside of London under the Patronage of King Charles II to its reincarnation as a Catholic Church and its modern use as a reinstated theatre. Guests on the tour will learn about the architecture of the building, the fascinating characters that worked inside its walls from actors to priests, see the artefacts excavated as part of the restoration and visit all three spaces now used for performances and events.
The cost of the guided tour and lunch is €15 for members (including a small subsidy from the Association) and €17.50 for non-members. Please note that a minimum of 20 people is needed for the group booking to proceed. The menu available to us is the Light Lunch – further information on the Smock Alley website at http://smockalley.com/foodanddrink/
If you would like to join us for this event, you can sign up on the website below send an email to info@tcdretired.ie.
We look forward to seeing you then.