Also known as the Actor's Church, St. Paul's, Covent Garden has been associated with London's theatre scene since the Theatre Royal was built on Drury Lane in 1663. Commemorative plaques honouring Britain's finest actors line the inside walls of the chapel. Some of the plaques that are up today honour the likes of Charlie Chaplin and Boris Karloff. The Tramp and Frankenstein. Now there's a crossover I'd pay to see.
And yes, I know the monster is not named Frankenstein. I just wanted to piss off the nerds. Hello nerds! Tricked you!
St. Paul's, Covent Garden was the first chapel built after the Protestant Reformation. When the Earl of Bedford commissioned architect Inigo Jones, he requested that the chapel be "not much better than a bar," to which Jones supposedly replied, "Then you shall have the handsomest barn in England."
Jones himself had a background in theatre, having staged over 500 productions with such playwrights as Ben Jonson, making the theatre's association with the stage all the more appropriate.
The chapel was built in 1633. It portico is the setting for the opening scene of George Bernard Shaw's play Pygmalion, which was been performed and adapted countless times all over the world.
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