AustLit

The Royal Victoria Theatre in Pitt St, between King and Market Streets, Sydney, New South Wales, was the first purpose-built theatre in New South Wales and had a seating capacity of 2,000. The building was designed by Henry Robertson in Regency colonial style and included an hotel. After being advertised for various dates, opening night under lessee Joseph Wyatt was on Monday 26 March 1838 with 'Shakespeare's celebrated Tragedy, entitled Othello' and the 'popular Farce, called The Middy Ashore' [William Bayle Bernard, 1836].

The Sydney Monitor, writing about the opening of the theatre, commented that the building was 'truly elegant' and the house 'spacious and lofty'. 'From the pit', it continued, 'you would suppose you were in a large provincial theatre in England' (28 March 1838). For a further description of the theatre building see Philip Parsons with Victoria Chance, Concise Companion to Theatre in Australia (1997).

According to reports in the Sydney Gazette (3 February 1838) Wyatt initially engaged actors from Van Diemen's Land (Tasmania). He also placed a notice in the Sydney Gazette (17 March 1838) asking those 'desirous of engagements' to attend the Green Room of the new theatre. After the closure of the Theatre Royal, Sydney Wyatt employed many of the Theatre Royal company at the Royal Victoria.

In March 1841 Wyatt travelled to England to recruit actors for his theatre, returning to Sydney in January 1843. The importation of these actors caused ill-feeling among the actors already working in the colony. The Sydney press criticised the weak acting of members of Wyatt's company and, to save money, Wyatt sacked audience favourites including Eliza Winstanley .

Wyatt sold the land on which the theatre stood in September 1844 then leased back the theatre from 1849 to 1854 with the hotel part being leased to Andrew Torning in 1851. Torning took over the lease of the theatre from Wyatt in 1854. The Concise Companion to Theatre in Australia, notes that the 'theatre continued to be upgraded and redecorated' for the next four decades under its various lessees.

The actor and entrepreneur George Selth Coppin made his Australian debut in the theatre in 1843. According to the Sydney Morning Herald (24 July 1880) Coppin had recently taken over as one of three lessees of the theatre, before fire broke out at 11:30 on the night of Thursday 22 July 1880 completely destroying the Royal Victoria.