 Perhaps the most telling episode of the popularity of theatre in the early 19th century is the theatrical old price riots of 1809.After Convent Garden burned down, John Philip Kemble, the theatre's manager, decided to raise prices in the pit, the boxes and the third tier.Audience members hated the new pricing which they thought denied them access to a national meeting place and led to three months of rioting until finally Kemble was forced to publicly apologize and lower prices again.