The West End
Going to the West End, or “going up West”, usually means visiting one of the many entertainment venues there, primarily theatres, of which there are 39. It is the world’s most densely-packed area of theatres, mainly occupying the London boroughs of Camden and Westminster. Although these are not the westernmost districts today, they were until the 20th century, hence the name. It includes Leicester Square, Piccadilly Circus, Covent Garden, Shaftesbury Avenue and Drury Lane, to name a few landmarks.
With the rebuilding after the Great Fire of London, the West End became a desirable residential area away from polluted central London but by the late 1700s, retail establishments and theatres had moved in. The Theatre Royal in Drury Lane is the UK’s oldest theatre, although it has been rebuilt a few times since it was first constructed in 1663.
Royal patents restricting ‘speech drama’ led to the creation of various other performing genres, e.g. comedy, musicals, operettas and pantomime. The 1843 Theatre Regulation Act abolished these patents but by then these alternatives were firmly established. TV and films meant some theatres closed, but links with New York’s Broadway and the ambitious staging of big shows continue to draw tourists and keen theatre-goers alike.
(Image: danmiami at Flickr.com / CC BY-NC-ND 2.0)