London's Oldest Theater Unearthed

Archaeologists in London have made an amazing discovery. They have unearthed what they believe to be London’s oldest theater, the Elizabethan Red Lion. This structure is of immense importance because it was a model for later playhouses of the Elizabethan era. This was the period that produced some of the greatest English-language dramatists, including William Shakespeare and Christopher Marlowe .

The discovery was made by archaeologists from Archaeology Southeast, in the Whitechapel area of East London. They found the site in 2019, but it took them a year to be confident that they had found the famed Red Lion. According to the Independent, “the Red Lion was a drinking establishment, which in 1567, allowed London’s first purpose-built theater to be constructed on its property.”