Memories of theatre in the market

He splashed out on a parcel of theatre bill posters dating back as far as 1811 after seeing them advertised in a newspaper advert placed by a Doncaster scrap merchant who said he bought the bills from an old country house.

When he looked through the parcel, Mr Edwards realised the historical worth of the bills. There were dozens of bills in varying sizes, and they dated back mostly to the early 19th century when the Doncaster Theatre was on Market Place.

Included among the earliest was one for September 30, 1811, announcing that ‘Mr and Mrs Siddons’ would play for three nights. Described as ‘Their Majesties Servants’ they were to perform a play entitled ‘Stranger’.

Mr Siddons was due to play the title role, and Mrs Siddons ‘of the Theatre Royal, Edinburgh and late of the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane, and Covent Garden’, was billed as ‘Mrs Hather’.

Also on the programme was a ‘Mrs Inchbald’s’ farce entitled ‘The Wedding Day’. Mr Siddons did not appear in this production, but Mrs Siddons was cast as ‘Lady Contest’.

Tickets were three shillings for a box, two shillings for the pit, and a shilling for the gallery.