by Dryden. That (D.L. No. 2) was the house visited by
the Spectator
. It required rebuilding in 1741 (D.L. No. 3); and was burnt down, and again rebuilt, in 1809, as we now have it (D.L. No. 4). There was no Covent Garden Theatre till after
the Spectator's
time, in 1733, when that house was first opened by Rich, the harlequin, under the patent granted to the Duke's Company.
In 1711 the other great house was the theatre in the Haymarket, recently built by Sir John Vanbrugh, author of
The Provoked Wife,
and architect of Blenheim. This
Haymarket Theatre
, on the site of that known as 'Her Majesty's,' was designed and opened by Vanbrugh in 1706, thirty persons of quality having subscribed a hundred pounds each towards the cost of it. He and Congreve were to write the plays, and Betterton was to take charge of their performance. The speculation was a failure; partly because the fields and meadows of the west end of the town cut off the poorer playgoers of the City, who could not afford coach-hire; partly because the house was too large, and its architecture swallowed up the voices of the actors. Vanbrugh and Congreve opened their grand west-end theatre with concession to the new taste of the fashionable for Italian Opera. They began with a translated opera set to Italian music, which ran only for three nights. Sir John Vanbrugh then produced his comedy of