18th and 19th Century: Chinese Festival and the 1754 Riot at Drury Lane Theatre

David Garrick

Drury Lane Theatre became known for many things, and among them a remarkable riot that occurred in November of 1755. The forebodings of it began in the summer of 1755 when David Garrick, an English actor, playwright, and theatre manager, entered into an agreement with the renowned French dancer and balletmaster Jean-Georges Noverre. Noverre promised that for the upcoming winter he would “compose such dances as would surprise and captivate all ranks of people.” In fact, Noverre did surprise and captive the people, but not in the way he and Garrick would have liked.

Noverre created a dancing spectacle called the Chinese Festival that involved multifarious figures, “in which the dresses and customs of the Chinese were…

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