The scene shows the interior of the rebuilt Bedford Music Hall. In 1914 Sickert had been commissioned by Ethel Sands to produce a series of pictures to decorate the dining room of her home in Chelsea and had spent many evenings drawing at the New Bedford working towards this commission. There were two versions of the print: a large scale work measuring 55.2 x 19 cm and the smaller version shown here in its third state. The work was printed by the artist Sylvia Gosse, whose work is represented in the British Council collection

Further reading:
Ruth Bromberg, Walter Sickert Prints, Yale University Press, New Haven and London 2000