Stage & Screen

It is no surprise that Covent Garden has become synonymous with entertainment. Samuel Pepys wrote of the first Punch & Judy shows being staged in the Market in 1642 and during the 18th and 19th centuries, the area became a magnet for Bohemian society in London - attracting writers and painters.

Fielding, Goldsmith & Hogarth were all members of a gaming club in the parlour of the 'Bedford'. Playwright Richard Brinsley Sheridan held court at the Piazza Hotel and Coffee House. The first holder of the Patent of the Theatre Royal, Thomas Killgrew, lived on the Piazza.

But it was acting and opera that became intrinsically linked with Covent Garden. The oldest established theatre is the Theatre Royal on Drury Lane, but the area boasts many including the Aldwych, the Lyceumthe Duchess, New London, Coliseum, Fortune and the Donmar.

The first Covent Garden Theatre - now the Opera House - opened in 1733 and Handel conducted his 'Messiah' there in 1786. The beginnings of the present-day theatre started in 1858 after the fire destroyed the old one. It was designed by EM Barry who also built the Floral Hall next door. Both are incorporated in the Royal Opera House complex.

Many well-known actors lived and worked in the area. David Garrick's house on Southampton Street survives and many streets take their names from actors of the time: Betterton, Macklin, Garrick, Kemble and Kean. St Paul's Church became known as "the actors' church" and on the inner walls and in the garden are numerous plaques as memorials to famous personalities of the performing arts. You can find out more about St Paul's church by clicking here.

Perhaps one of the most enduring and best-loved images of Covent Garden is the role it played as the backdrop in the 1964 movie musical classic, My Fair Lady - where the cockney flower girl, Eliza Doolittle, is successfully introduced into high society by the professor of phonetics, Henry Higgins.

The stage version of My Fair Lady premiered in New York in 1956 and at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane in London in 1958. The reviews heralded the show a triumph - and it went on to break all box office records. By the time it closed after 2281 performances, almost 4.5 million people had seen the show.

Four years later, Warner Brothers bought the film rights. My Fair Lady was nominated for 12 Oscars, won eight and remains a classic to this day.