Farm Hall at the gorgeous Theatre Royal, Haymarket

I'm a bit late with this as Farm Hall, the production I went to see a few weeks ago, has now finished its run. I really enjoyed the play – clever and thought-provoking conversations between captured officers imprisoned in a stately home during WW2 – go Google for reviews.

The thing about going to the theatre or to the cinema is that we rarely look around us at the often sumptuous surroundings being as we are too busy chatting with our friends, trying to find our seats, or queueing for drinks, ice cream or the toilet during the interval. Then the play ends and we all splurge out into the street having missed all the clever architectural embellishments within.

I often go to the theatre or cinema alone to be able to pay attention to the production without interjections and conversations and, during the intervals, I like go investigating. I have visited The Theatre Royal Haymarket many times and each time, even though it's small, I find something new. Many years ago I went on a tour of the building, yet I don't seem to have written about that experience here. (note to self; dig out those photos and add to this post). 

On this occasion my seat was in the stalls and I took a sequence of snaps of the opulent surroundings 

The first half of the play flew by being as it was so engrossing. In the interval I went exploring and  found intriguing little hinges and handles and shiny brass plates within the floor and as push plates on doors:

These doors lead to The Oscar Wilde Room, named to commemorate his two plays that were staged here. The room is also signposted at the front of the theatre under the portico and there is a green plaque at the rear of the theatre at shoulder level here.  Adjacent to this room is a recess that would have contained an ash tray, no doubt used by Oscar himself, a keen cigarette smoker. 

Continuing the subject of ashtrays, the very first pic showing my ticket is in front of a brass corner shelf on the stairs which was also used for this purpose. Here's a better pic of it:

The second pic is looking down into the bar area which, as these next pics show, is slathered in stucco:

And then the bell rang and we all returned to our seats via the doors marked 'Exit' 

I am convinced that there used to be a bakelite phone within one of the stairwells. Or perhaps I am getting my theatres confused. 

UPDATE: Yep... I have found some pics I took in 2015 whilst on a guided tour:

The phone was on the stairs where a flower-shaped window offered a marvellous view out to Haymarket and Her Majesty's Theatre, opposite. But I cannot recall seeing the phone when I went to see Noises off* in November 2013 otherwise I'd have taken more photos of it.

The next two pics show a brassy little pot that I expect was instead used to stash chewing gum or other small rubbish. Not being screwed down, I suspect it was pocketed. The animal head along the handrail is one of many in the bar area.

*my one-word review of that 2023 production of Noises Off: painful.  

Dover Street Market in Burberry's, Haymarket

The 3-sided clock – where did it go?

In 1912 Burberry moved into its headquarters at 18-22 Haymarket. When they moved out in 2007 I was concerned what might happen to the building and watched the site avidly as the changes took place.
First the lovely clock disappeared. Then the hoardings went up with signs on them saying something about a market. Ooh, I thought; a market. Ah, but yeah, but no.  
The new occupant is Dover Street Market which moved from its previous location in... in Dover Street, to here. Isn't that a bit confusing?  
Last month I finally found the time to take a peek inside:

It's great to see so much of the old Burberry store over above and around the concessions within. The selling spaces wrap around the original central staircase, which, if my memory serves me correctly, is octagonal. It has lovely wooden handrails and the woodblock and parquet floor have been lovingly stripped down to enhance the grain etc. I also like the way nails on the floor have been hammered in as a kind of feature to show where the carpet used to be, ditto sections of the floor that are light or dark depending on when and for how long it saw daylight. Oh, and check out the lovely circular windows on the stairs and the original skylights within the ground floor ceiling.
A single lift runs down the centre of the staircase but even though there are doors on every one of the five(?) floors, on the day I was there they didn't seem to be working, so I suppose that's how rich people stay thin.
On the top floor there is a tea and cakes shop but I can't tell you if it's worth putting the salopettes and crampons on for as I couldn't see a menu or price list.
Some of the concessions/designers' spaces and display cases are really imaginative, more cleverly designed than the stock within; I saw a lot of simple cotton things that looked like pillowslips with added holes for arms, some scrumpled things that would have your Nan reaching for an iron, some very expensive basic T-shirts and lots of find 'em everywhere lately deconstructed patchwork shirts.
To clarify; Dover Street Market is no longer in Dover Street. Dover Street Market is a company and has moved to Haymarket, which was once a market for hay.
It must be really confusing for visitors to London. Consider if you asked someone to meet you at Covent Garden Market and you waited for them at Nine Elms whilst they wandered around the Apple Market (which no longer sells apples), or for Billingsgate they go to an events location near Cannon Street whilst you stand like a prawn in the East End* .

And, as far as I can ascertain, St James Market, Piccadilly, was also moved from its earlier location at the top of Haymarket to St James' Churchyard.
Any more? I am sure there must be.
But back to Burberry's – where is the clock? I was hoping Burberry had taken it with them to their new offices at Horseferry House but I can't see it in any of these pics. I had a look on their site for more info and notice the clock is not on the building in the pics from 1913. Hmmm.

*Try it for yourself – an online search for Billingsgate Market will show that it's either a fish market in Poplar, or one of the 25 Wards of the City of London