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The Curtain Theatre was an Elizabethan playhouse located in Curtain Close, Shoreditch (part of the modern Borough of Hackney), just outside the City of London. It opened in 1577, and continued staging plays until 1622. The Curtain was built some 200 yards south of London's first playhouse, the Theatre, which had opened a year before, in 1576.
Little is known of the plays performed at the Curtain or of the playing companies that performed there. Its proprietor seems to have been one Henry Lanman, who is described as a 'gentleman'. In 1585 Lanman made an agreement with the proprietor of the Theatre, James Burbage, to use the Curtain as a supplementary house, or 'easer', to the more prestigious older playhouse.
From 1597 to 1599 it became the premiere venue of Shakespeare's Company, the Lord Chamberlain's Men, who had been forced to leave their former playing space at The Theatre after the latter closed in 1596. It was the venue of several of Shakespeare's plays, including Romeo and Juliet (which gained 'Curtain plaudits') and Henry V. In this latter play the somewhat undistinguished Curtain gains immortal fame by being described by Shakespeare as 'this wooden O'. The Lord Chamberlain's Men departed the Curtain when the Globe, which they built to replace the Theatre, was ready for use.
The ultimate fate of the Curtain is obscure. There is no record of it after 1627.
A modern plaque marks its site today.
References
Schoenbaum, S. (1987) William Shakespeare: A Compact Documentary Life. OUP.
External links
"Curtain Theatre"