The Dilettanti Theatre, on Tottenham Court road, was a private theater started by the Pic-Nic Society. This provided suppers, singing, and dramatic entertainments.
The Pic-Nic Society was launched in 1801. Pic-nic originally meant potluck. The supper was often just that, a potluck of the Upper Orders followed by amateur theatricals.
According to some sources, this private theatre was disliked by public theaters who saw it as competition, and often the source of satire from Gillray who liked to skewer the upper class for perceived decadences (https://blog.kathrynmcgowan.com/tag/london-pic-nic-society/).
Lady Albina Buckinghamshire (pictured at the piano) was one of the primary leaders of the Society. Also pictured are Lady Salisbury, Col. Henry Francis Greiville, Lord Mount Edgcumbe, and Lord George James Cholmondeley (https://www.princeton.edu/~graphicarts/2008/10/the_pic-nic_orchestra.html). According to the 1803 View from London, their were 17 private theatres around London at the time, of which the Dilettanti was one of the most remarked upon.
Looking for more about Regency era theatres? We have posts about Drury Lane Theatre, Haymarket Theatre, the Surrey Theatre, Sans Pareil Theatre, and King’s Theatre.
