Opened in 30 May 1887, Gaiety Theatre is designed by Henry Irwin. After the two decades of its construction, in year 1888,the foundation of gaiety theatre took place. It is originally built as five storey town hall and was the tallest structure in the little colonial town of Shimla.
Tbe first play was “Time will Tell”. Today, it is coat of arms of the Amateur Dramatics Club hanging on the door to the upper level of Gaiety Theater on the Ridge. The ADC is one of the oldest clubs of its type in the world and continues to operate to this day.
Though in year 1912, it is declared unsafe and planned for demolition. It is also a place for renowned personalities such as Rudyard Kipling, Baten Powel, K.L. Sehgal, Prithvi Raj Kapoor, the Kendall’s, Balraj Sahni, Pran, Manohar Singh, Shashi Kapoor, Raj Babbar, Naseeruddin Shah and Anupam Kher and have performed on the stage of this theatre.
At present,the seminar hall of the Gaiety Theatre, Shimla, is given free of cost for 12 days in a year to empanelled organisations to hold literary and cultural activities, including discussions, seminars, book reading, book release, storytelling, poetry sessions, meet the author and other such events.
