This seated 200 people, and during 1951 and 1952 was used for concerts, plays and a celebrated opera production of Dido and Aeneas with Kirsten Flagstad, Maggie Teyte and Thomas Hemsley, conducted by Geraint Jones, which was recorded by His Master's Voice.

This site was close to the location of an abortive attempt, in the Jacobean era, to build a theatre (named Porter's Hall) for the amalgamation of the Children of the Queen's Revels and Lady Elizabeth's Men.

as responsible for the revival of interest in Noël Coward's works) and including an annual staging of Treasure Island, with Miles reprising his role of Long John Silver, which he also played in a television version.

[3] In July 1961 the poet and author Sylvia Plath read her poem "Tulips" at the Poetry at the Mermaid Festival, sponsored by the Arts Council of Great Britain.

[12] Actor Roy Marsden and Vanessa Ford took over the running of the theatre for a few months prior to its eventual closure and the termination of the Shamji family's ownership.

The move may save the developer £6 million worth of Section 106 funding, which it had previously agreed to pay in lieu if it closed the 600-seat Mermaid; the company could be released from the obligation because no theatrical productions have taken place for more than ten years.

[15] The existing plans would see the Puddle Dock building converted into a conference centre and fitness suite, plus offices, a nightclub and retail and restaurant space.