One of the top five oldest working theatres in the country, Theatre Royal Brighton is, in conception, a Regency theatre, built on land purchased from the Prince Regent who personally approved the plans and gave the theatre his royal assent.It was not the first theatre in Brighton a man named Samuel Paine built one on North Street in 1774 and another on Duke Street in 1790 but it was the only theatre of its period to remain in use for any significant length of time and thus now stands as the sole symbol of Brighton's theatrical heritage.

Opened in 1807, having been built in just ten months, there exists no record of its original architect, although similarities to its near-contemporary, the Royal Theatre Worthing, have led many to give the credit to a theatre architect known as Mr Hides.

Many of the original architectural features have disappeared in later rebuilding, primarily during the Victorian and Edwardian eras, although early records depict a three-storey, classical-style building with a colonnade along the front. The interior, meanwhile, was linked with the Prince Regent's most famous Brighton landmark, the Royal Pavilion, which is believed to have used some of the same painters.

In approximately 1819, Theatre Royal Brighton installed gas lighting, one of the first theatres in the country to do so (The Savoy was the first). To highlight solo performers, a spotlight effect was created by burning a piece of lime in the flame, resulting in a bright white light this is the origin of the phrase in the limelight to refer to a star or, more broadly, anyone at the centre of attention.

The next significant step in the theatre's architectural history came in 1866, when brilliant new manager Henry Nye Chart employed a young man named Charles James Phipps to re-design the auditorium.

It was a wise choice. Although not widely known at the time, Phipps would go on to become a celebrated architect with numerous high-profile buildings to his name including at least 25 provincial theatres and almost a dozen in London (among them the London Palladium, the Savoy, the Lyric, and the Garrick). His contribution to Theatre Royal Brighton was enormous. It was Phipps, for instance, who was responsible for the horseshoe shape of the auditorium.

He literally raised the roof by also increasing the height of the main area to incorporate a new gallery, creating the three, closely-spaced balconies that give the auditorium such unusual intimacy and pushing the capacity to a colossal 1,900 almost double what it is today.

The other Phipps feature that remains prominent is the huge chandelier, which stands an imposing two metres tall and weighs one tonne.

It is cleaned today, as it was when first installed, by lowering it down to floor level there are photos in the theatre of its last dusting, when ATG took ownership in 1999.

The introduction of new safety regulations brought in towards the end of the 19th Century triggered the next significant moment in Theatre Royal Brighton's history.

In 1894 architect CE Clayton installed a safety curtain and additional exits, improved the backstage area with a new stage door and revamped the dressing rooms following the purchase of 35-38 Bond Street.

The most significant developments, however, came from the integration into the main theatre of 9 New Road, the former home of the Nye Charts (Mrs Nye Chart having donated her house to the theatre upon her death two years previously).

This allowed for the creation of a new main entrance to the theatre and the re-location of the box office using what had been the Nye Charts' ground floor hence the presence of the domestic fireplace, still in evidence today.

A new Royal Circle bar was also installed in what had formerly been the Nye Charts' drawing room.

In addition, a separate entrance was created to the pit at the back of the stalls, complete with its own bar, while the gas-lighting system, ground-breaking when first installed, was replaced with the new kid on the lighting block electricity.

With accompanying re-decoration throughout, the directors were able to claim that Theatre Royal Brighton was now in the first rank, so far as the comfort and convenience of both audience and artists are concerned, and also with regard to the facilities for the production of the most elaborate modern plays.

Within two decades, Theatre Royal Brighton was again going through changes, this time triggered by a backstage fire in 1911.

The existing dressing rooms were re-designed and nine new ones created, utilising the recently-acquired Bond Street properties their former existence as fishermen's cottages remains fundamental to their unique atmosphere to this day.

Chief Executive Julien Boast claims that high-profile actors have suggested not entirely seriously, one hopes that his life would be in danger should he decide to replace the theatre's dressing rooms with anything more modern.

Changes were made in the public areas too, with individual seats replacing benches in the stalls, gallery and amphitheatre, thus reducing the huge capacity that Phipps' design had enabled.

In terms of comfort, however, it was a definite positive step, allowing the directors, just prior to the outbreak of the First World War, to claim the theatre was not only thoroughly up-to-date but that the public and actors alike have expressed great satisfaction with the improved arrangements for their comfort.

The period immediately following the First World War was a particularly strong one for Theatre Royal Brighton and during the Twenties the theatre bought up a number of adjacent properties including, in 1923, the Colonade Hotel, now known as the Colonade Bar.

1927 saw the last significant architectural and structural developments inside the building, when RC Sprague slightly increased the capacity and redecorated the auditorium in rose and silver.

No lasting changes were made almost until the end of the century when, following its purchase by ATG in 1999, the theatre was substantially refurbished with new carpets and authentic wallpaper. Much of the seating has also been replaced in subsequent years. Today, Theatre Royal Brighton is a Grade II-listed building and unlike many theatres of its age which have undergone major makeovers in recent decades, the building's long and uninterrupted history is there for all to see.

From the reclaimed timber frames up in the flies to the original gas light fittings, the bizarre boarded-up window leading nowhere in the Royal Circle to the domestic fireplace in the main foyer, there is tremendous visual evidence of the theatre's organic growth, giving it almost unparalleled character.

As Julien Boast says, It's remarkable for any theatre to get to reach 200 years old, given their tendency to burn down, thanks to the combination of timber and gas lighting. But what's particularly amazing about Theatre Royal Brighton is her growth has been pretty much uninterrupted throughout the reigns of nine monarchs and architecturally she's pretty much untouched.

Several theatres of her age or older have had a lot of money put in and the infrastructure changed. But you just don't get that sense, as you do here, that Olivier or Burton or Dietrich or Charlton Heston walked these very corridors or were made up in these dressing rooms.

Even most of the doors, the fittings, are still here. Similarly, it's incredible how many thousands of people have sat in that auditorium over the years and the wide range of emotions they have experienced there.

That's what makes this theatre unique.