Gibbon's Tennis Court

About

Gibbon's Tennis Court was a building off Vere Street and Clare Market, near Lincoln's Inn Fields in London, England. Originally built as a real tennis court, it was used as a playhouse from 1660 to 1663, shortly after the English Restoration. As a theatre, it has been variously called the "Theatre Royal, Vere Street", the "Vere Street Theatre", or (as in Samuel Pepys' diary) simply "The Theatre". It was the first permanent home for Thomas Killigrew's King's Company and was the stage for some of the earliest appearances by professional actresses.

The theatre was destroyed by fire in 1809. The London School of Economics, which covers most of Clare Market nowadays, retains some squash and real tennis courts in its older buildings.

Adapted from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA)。Photography via Wikimedia Commons.