The Marlborough Theatre, in Princes Street opposite the Royal Pavilion, is thought originally to have housed a ballroom and gambling hall. The theatre’s upstairs rooms were used as a hotel in regency days, and there were rumours that the Marlborough doubled as a brothel. It is said that there was once a secret tunnel between the Royal Pavilion and the Marlborough, built so the Prince Regent might discreetly visit ladies of ill repute. Although the official line from the Pavilion is that there is no tunnel to the Marlborough, the basement of the theatre does indeed contain the bricked-up entrance to a tunnel which appears to head in the direction of the Pavilion. 

The Marlborough Little Theatre played host to meetings of the Brighton Campaign For Homosexual Equality in the 1970s and 1980s, with speakers, discussions and social events; while in the 1980s, lesbian theatre company Siren, produced clever and poignant critiques of women’s place in society, often premiering their plays at the Marlborough or The Nightingale, to huge popularity amongst local lesbian audiences. 

Following the route to the old site of the Astoria Cinema, you will pass the Sallis Benney Theatre on your right, at 58 – 67 Grand Parade.