Royal Olympic Theatre

Soon after the London Inn was licensed in 1834 its attached theatre became Launceston’s established theatrical venue. It superseded the assembly rooms of the British Hotel, where Samson Cameron opened the town’s first theatrical season in June 1834. The licensee of the London Inn from 1838 to 1843, an emancipist named B. Hyrons, improved the theatre in 1842. He added a new stage, dressing rooms, cloakrooms, ensuring 'a season with every comfort which good arrangements can secure'. F. B. Watson was the first lessee of the improved theatre. He transferred the Olympic name from the room in the Steam Packet Tavern where his company had been playing. Cameron opened the Royal Victoria Theatre in competition and bankrupted himself in a few months of rivalry. Watson continued until 1844. George Coppin gave a notable season at the Royal Olympic in 1845 and Anne Clarke used it later in the 1840s. The building was altered again in 1853, but its popularity waned after the Lyceum and Clarence Theatres and the Theatre Royal were built in the 1850s.