The Old Vic Theatre Company was founded in 1818 as the Royal Coburg Theatre and was originally known for producing primarily popular melodramas. The theatre was renamed the Royal Victoria following a remodel in 1833 and become known popularly as "the Old Vic." In 1880 it came under the management of Emma Cons (1838-1912), a well-known social reformer, and the theatre transformed into the Royal Victoria Hall and Coffee Tavern, focusing on temperance amusements such as music concerts and scenes from Shakespeare and operas. In 1912, Cons' niece Lilian Baylis (1874-1937) took over management of the theatre and in 1914 introduced the company's first regular Shakespeare season. By 1918 the Old Vic was established as London's only permanent Shakespearean theatre and by 1923 had performed productions of all of Shakespeare's plays.

The Old Vic continued to grow throughout the 1920s and 1930s, but the physical building was damaged during German airs raids in 1940 causing the company to be temporarily relocated. Following World War II, the theatre building reopened in November 1950 and was granted Grade II listed building status in 1951. When Laurence Olivier was appointed as first director of the National Theatre in 1962, which had been established in 1946, the governors of the Old Vic offered their building as its temporary home and in 1963 the Old Vic company was disbanded.