| DUCHESS Catherine Street WC2 Tudoresque building designed 1929 by Ewan
Barr, associated with playwrights JB Priestley and Emlyn Williams.
Eventual home of the notorious nude revue Oh Calcutta!, which ran for
more than six years. Holds the record for the shortest run when, in
1930, The Intimate Revue didn’t even make it to the end of the first
performance.
Décor: Orange segment foyer with curved glass box-office – very 1930s. Glass cabinets for merchandise displays. Plain decor despite attractive neo-Tudor exterior. Brown auditorium with side panels containing relief sculptures of swirling nymphs and supplicant hands holding masks. Art deco lampshades and veneer panelling. Capacity 475
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