The Gaiety Theatre is a theatre on South King Street in Dublin, Ireland, off Grafton Street and close to St. Stephen's Green. It specialises in operatic and musical productions, with occasional dramatic shows. History In April 1871, the brothers John and Michael Gunn obtained a 21-year license to establish "a well-regulated theatre and therein at all times publicly to act, represent or perform any interlude, tragedy, comedy, prelude, opera, burletta, play, farce or pantomime". In favour of the Gunn's license application was that, unlike the existing theatres, they were not proposing to promote local drama which had acquired something of a reputation with the Dublin Castle administration for stirring up nationalist sentiments. The city centre site in King Street was 17 metres wide on King Street and 42 metres deep towards Tangier Lane. The Gunns employed the experienced theatre architect Mr C.J. Phipps, One of the theatres Philips had recently completed in 1868 in London was The Gaiety and its name and auditorium layout were adopted for the new theatre in Dublin. The audience capacity was 2000 spread over four floors: the 'parterre' or ground floor pit with 21 rows of seats; the dress circle and upper circle comprising: balcony stalls with 7 rows of seats, the first circle with 6 rows of seats, the amphitheater with 2 rows of seats; and the top floor gallery with 9 rows of seats; plus 14 private boxes. Each class of seats was accessed via its own entrance and stairway. There was a smoking balcony, bars on each floor and a tea-room. The design included tip-up seats (an innovative way of increasing the audience capacity) and fire-safety features such as a 4” water main (for firefighting) and stone (not wooden) staircases. Back stage: the theatre was radically different from others in Ireland. From the outset the Gunns decided that their new theatre would be a ‘receiving house’: that is, it would receive touring companies and would not have its own company of actors or a repertory programme: As a receiving house, there was no need for extensive rehearsal spaces, workshops or storage areas. The theatre was built for £26,000, and construction was completed in just 28 weeks. The Gaiety was opened on 27 November 1871, with the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland as guest of honour for a double bill which included the comedy She Stoops to Conquer and a burlesque version of La