Red Bull Theatre

Red Bull Theatre, London public playhouse in Upper Street, Clerkenwell, built in about 1600–05 by Aaron Holland and noted for the vulgarity and obstreperousness of its patrons. The Red Bull was frequented by rowdy neighbourhood theatregoers, and several were called before Middlesex justices in 1610, charged with committing a “notable outrage” at the theatre. Such disturbances there appear to have been common.

The first troupe to play at the Red Bull was Queen Anne’s Men, who began when the theatre opened and occupied it until 1617, when they took up residence at the Cockpit. In 1619, after the death of Queen Anne, who had been the troupe’s patron, some members of the company returned to the Red Bull while others joined Prince Charles’s Men at the Cockpit. In 1625 the Red Bull was renovated and modified, but little is known about the companies that played there after that. The theatre continued to be used until the Commonwealth (a label used for the Cromwellian regime, 1649–60), during which time it may have been used for puppet plays and occasional clandestine activities. It reopened at the Restoration, when Thomas Killigrew’s company played there, but by 1663 the theatre was no longer in use and by 1665 had been torn down.