Ep 119: The Red Lion Theater Discovery with Stephen White

Underneath a housing redevelopment in Whitechapel, England, archaeologists have unearthed what is believed to be the remains of The Red Lion theater. The Red Lion predates Shakespeare’s Globe and is thought to be the earliest purpose built theater known to have been built in the city since Roman-times. Built by John Brayne in 1567, the Red Lion was a predecessor to Brayne’s next construction on The Theatre in Shoreditch which was owned by James Burbage and completed almost a decade later, in 1576.

The Red Lion represents the start of a new movement in London which would give foundation to the budding career of a young William Shakespeare, in that this was the first time in modern history anyone was trying to provide a permanent home for the popular Tudor playing companies who up to this point were housed at various houses, inns, and other venues as a strictly travelling troupe. To create purpose built theaters was a unique change in the early modern theater industry that invited patrons to come to the theater instead of the other way around.

Other than brief mentions in two lawsuits from the time period, there has not been much information to inform our understanding of this groundbreaking theater, until now. In January of 2019, a team of archaeologists with Archaeology South-East, part of University College London’s Institute of Archaeology, began excavations that revealed 144 timbers thought to make up the scaffolding of the Red Lion’s stage..

The director of the project, Stephen White, is here today to tell us about the dig, what they have found, and what we now know about the Red Lion based on their history discovery.