The Theatre Royal Marylebone in Church Street, off Edgware Road, opened in 1831. It operated under many different names, including the Royal West London Theatre, the Royal Alfred Theatre and the Marylebone Theatre, it was well known in Victorian London for the rousing melodramas and pantomimes put on by its proprietor John Douglas between 1842 and 1847. This poster features six woodcut images which added to the expense of producing the posters but would have been particularly good for attracting the attention of passers-by, especially those who couldn't read. The clientele of the Marylebone Theatre would have included many of those, and attracted patrons who enjoyed action-packed productions.

This evening had it all - two exciting dramas starring the trained dogs Hector and Bruin, and a burletta starring Edwin Blanchard dressed as an orang-utan. The evening was a Benefit performance for Barkham Cony and Edwin Blanchard, which meant they were entitled to a percentage of the evening's profits. Cony and Blanchard were 'dog-men' or actors who worked with trained dogs. They dominated the so-called 'dog drama' throughout the 1830s and 1840s, and were equally successful in London and New York.