Chatsworth Private Theatre

The private theatre of the Duke of Devonshire. A rare example of a theatre of a kind more common in central European palaces, in this case on the first floor of a tower at the north end of a long wing added by Wyatville to the ducal palace of Chatsworth from 1820-27.

It was designed as a multi-purpose ballroom, flat floored, with windows along the side walls, a central doorway at one end flanked by two large, slightly raised boxes and a small gallery above for servants.

It has a fine ceiling with panels to form frames for late seventeenth century painting by Cheron and Thornhill. The most notable feature theatrically, however, is the proscenium which, although flat, is painted in trompe l'oeil to give the illusion of a florid plaster frame with richly tasseled drapes. The proscenium divides the original room, with the cornice continuing over the stage. There is a splendid act drop (no longer hung, but kept in a roll) depicting the Elizabethan Chatsworth. The stage is shallow with no grid but with original pulleys, wings, borders etc.

Not normally open to public view.