‘That special type of magic only the theatre can provide’: Queen Elizabeth II opens the National Theatre in 1976

“I know it is the determination of the National Theatre Company to fill this building with that special type of magic that only the theatre can provide,” said the late Queen Elizabeth II on October 25, 1976.

It was a rainy morning and mist had settled across the South Bank where the Queen, politicians, architects and officials had gathered to mark the opening of the National Theatre.

Before unveiling a commemorative plaque, the Queen said: “It stands as a tribute to all those who dreamt of it; to those who argued and fought for it; to those who designed and built it; and to those who founded and developed its famous company.”

Accompanied by the Duke of Edinburgh, she then watched a performance of Goldoni’s comedy Il Campiello.

Outside, bands, fanfares, an outdoor carnival and fireworks greeted the large crowds who turned out despite the poor weather conditions.

The event marked a breakthrough following a long history of dashed hopes for the theatre.

Seventy two years earlier, in 1904, campaigner Harley Granville-Barker and critic William Archer drew up a blueprint, ‘Scheme & Estimates for a National Theatre’.

Their remarkably detailed plans included everything from a proposed repertoire to company size, wages, seating capacity and seat prices. 

But, the outbreak of the First World War brought a standstill to any progress.

Mr Granville-Barker took up the cause once again in 1930, with the young publisher Geoffrey Whitworth, founder of the British Drama League and in 1949, parliament passed the National Theatre Bill, authorising £1million of public funds for the building of a national theatre on the South Bank of the Thames. 

In 1951 the foundation stone was laid by Queen Elizabeth II, twenty five years before the Queen officially opened the building on that Autumn morning.

But as plans changed, so did the site – several times – prompting her to joke that the foundation stone should be “mounted on castors”.

Progress stalled, proposals came and went and at one point critics Kenneth Tynan and Richard Findlater staged a mock funeral for the National Theatre next to the stone as a mark of their despair.

In August 1962, actor Laurence Olivier was appointed Director of the National Theatre Company. Mr Olivier gathered around him some of the leading actors and directors of the day and formed a fledgling company which was offered the use of the Old Vic beside Waterloo Station.

Running administration from a series of huts in nearby Aquinas Street, the National Theatre created its first productions. 

On 22 October 1963, it was finally launched with a production of Hamlet starring the young Peter O’Toole.

By the end of his tenure, the Mr Oliver had established the National Theatre as a prestigious company and agreed a design for the new building on the South Bank by Denys Lasdun.

In 1963 Mr Oliver stepped down and was replaced by the younger Peter Hall, who had already opened the Royal Shakespeare Company at the age of 29.

The change represented a generational shift as well as a transition within the theatre, instead of being led by actors it would be led by directors.

Despite the handover, much stayed the same. The construction of the new building was underway, but subject to endless delays and setbacks forcing Mr Hall to cancel several productions and, in the end, move into the unfinished structure once one auditorium – the Lyttelton – was complete. 

The company rehearsed within the building site. Even once it was finally opened in 1976, industrial strikes and budget cuts would make running the National Theatre challenging.

Even so, the new National Theatre was anchored in ambition and optimism – larger than anything in Europe or America.

During the official opening in 1976, Mr Olivier joined the Queen as they welcomed visitors.

Borrowing a quote from Henry V, he said: “It is an outsize pearl of British understatement to say that I am happy to welcome you at this moment in this place.”

The theatre’s name was changed to the Royal National Theatre in 1988 to mark the 25th anniversary of the company’s first performance.

Pictured top: Sir Laurence Olivier, former director of the National Theatre Company, viewing a model of the new National Theatre building in 1967 (Picture: PA Archive)