Find from 16th century uncovered in building of £750m complex of 412 apartments now renamed the Stage

When excavating the foundations for London’s latest luxury residential tower, archaeologists made an unexpected discovery behind a Shoreditch pub: the remains of a 16th-century Shakespearean theatre.

The remains of the Curtain theatre, which opened in 1577 but was lost from historical records in 1622, was found during the building of a £750m complex of 412 apartments in a 37-storey development that opened on Monday. It has been renamed the Stage.