Theatre Royal Drury Lane has occupied this corner of Covent Garden since 1663, making it London's oldest working theatre site. The current building is actually the fourth on this spot: fires, riots and plain old structural failure did for the first three.

It was here that Nell Gwyn sold oranges before catching the eye of Charles II and trading fruit for royal favour. David Garrick revolutionised acting on this stage in the 18th century, and the theatre's ghost, the Man in Grey, supposedly appears during rehearsals of productions destined to succeed.

The building's Catherine Street facade, completed in 1812, anchors a stretch of theatreland that has drawn crowds for over 350 years. V

VoiceMap's self-guided audio tours trace the connections between Covent Garden's theatrical past and its present, following the footsteps of orange sellers, impresarios and the occasional royal mistress through streets where the stage door has always been as important as the front entrance.