London Bubble Theatre Company is a community theatre and charity organization founded in 1972, focusing on all-ages acting classes [1] and various outreach programs. [2]
London Bubble's Artistic Directors have been: [3]
In 1972, due to the lack of theatre accessibility in London's outer boroughs, the Greater London Arts Association proposed the idea of a touring theatre to Glen Walford. Walford proposed the use of a tent that would be transferred between parks around London. Later that year, the London Bubble was established and the troupe toured around parks in 22 London boroughs. [1]
The Company originated Return to the Forbidden Planet for a production in a tent. [4]
2017 - Arts & Culture London Youth Awards
2019 - SLCN Innovation of The Year Shine a Light Awards
2022 - Best Charity or Social Enterprise Southwark Business Excellence Awards
Return to the Forbidden Planet is a jukebox musical by Bob Carlton based on the 1956 science fiction film Forbidden Planet, which, in turn, is loosely based on Shakespeare's play The Tempest. The show features a score of 1950s and 1960s rock and roll classics and dialogue largely adapted from well-known passages from Shakespeare.
Sir Peter Reginald Frederick Hall CBE was an English theatre, opera and film director. His obituary in The Times declared him "the most important figure in British theatre for half a century" and on his death, a Royal National Theatre statement declared that Hall's "influence on the artistic life of Britain in the 20th century was unparalleled". In 2018, the Laurence Olivier Awards, recognising achievements in London theatre, changed the award for Best Director to the Sir Peter Hall Award for Best Director.
Susan Georgina "Su" Pollard is a British actress, singer, songwriter and author whose career has spanned over 50 years. Pollard is most known for her role in the sitcom Hi-de-Hi! She also appeared in the sitcoms You Rang, M'Lord? and Oh, Doctor Beeching!
The Roundhouse is a performing arts and concert venue at the Grade II* listed former railway engine shed in Chalk Farm, London, England. The building was erected in 1846–1847 by the London & North Western Railway as a roundhouse, a circular building containing a railway turntable, but was used for that purpose for only about a decade. After being used as a warehouse for a number of years, the building fell into disuse just before World War II. It was first made a listed building in 1954.
Barnum is an American musical with a book by Mark Bramble, lyrics by Michael Stewart, and music by Cy Coleman. It is based on the life of showman P. T. Barnum, covering the period from 1835 through 1880 in America and major cities of the world where Barnum took his performing companies. The production combines elements of traditional musical theater with the spectacle of the circus. The characters include jugglers, trapeze artists and clowns, as well as such real-life personalities as Jenny Lind and General Tom Thumb.
The Evening Standard Theatre Awards, established in 1955, are the oldest theatrical awards ceremony in the United Kingdom. They are presented annually for outstanding achievements in London Theatre, and are organised by the Evening Standard newspaper. They are the West End's equivalent to Broadway's Drama Desk Awards.
The Queen's Theatre is a 507-seat mid-scale producing theatre located in Hornchurch in the London Borough of Havering, east London.
Nottingham Playhouse is a theatre in Nottingham, Nottinghamshire, England. It was first established as a repertory theatre in 1948 when it operated from a former cinema in Goldsmith Street. Directors during this period included Val May and Frank Dunlop. The current building opened in 1963.
Michael John Attenborough is an English theatre director.
Patrick Ewart Garland was a British director, writer and actor.
The Unicorn Theatre is a children's theatre in the London Borough of Southwark, in England. It is a custom-built, RIBA Award–winning building on Tooley Street, which opened in 2005. The theatre was designed by Keith Williams, built by Arup and comprises two theatre spaces, an education studio, rehearsal space, café and the John Lyon meeting room.
James Edward Carter is an English actor. He is best known for his role as Mr Carson in the ITV historical drama series Downton Abbey (2010–2015), which earned him four nominations for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series (2012–2015). He reprised the role in the feature films Downton Abbey (2019) and Downton Abbey: A New Era (2022).
Bob Carlton was an English theatre director and writer. He is best known for creating and directing the jukebox musical Return to the Forbidden Planet, which won the Laurence Olivier Award for Best New Musical in both 1989 and 1990 and has been produced in many different countries around the world.
Ashley Glazebrook and Glen Murphy, better known by their stage name Twist and Pulse, are an English street dance duo based in London. They were the runners-up of the fourth series of Britain's Got Talent in 2010, coming second to Spelbound in the live final, but later won the spinoff show Britain's Got Talent: The Champions in 2019, becoming the Champion of Champions.
The Warehouse Theatre was a professional producing theatre in the centre of Croydon, England. Based in an oak-beamed Victorian former cement warehouse, it had 100 seats. The theatre closed in 2012 following withdrawal of funding and the discovery, after a survey, of serious faults in the building.
The National Youth Music Theatre (NYMT) is an arts organisation in the United Kingdom providing pre-professional education and musical theatre stage experience for young people. Based in London, it is constituted as a private limited company and as a registered charity. NYMT was founded in 1976 by director and playwright Jeremy James Taylor. Since its inception, it has produced more than fifty productions at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, premièred thirty new musical theatre works, toured several times outside the United Kingdom, and had runs in the West End and on Broadway.
Polka Theatre is a children’s theatre in Wimbledon, London Borough of Merton, for children aged 0– 13. The theatre contains two performance spaces - a 300-seat main auditorium and a 70-seat studio dedicated to early years performances. Polka Theatre is a producing theatre which also tours shows nationally and internationally.
Kim Ismay is a British actress and singer and a former member of the Royal Shakespeare Company. She is perhaps best known for playing the role of Tanya in the London production of the stage musical Mamma Mia!, Madame Morrible in the international and UK & Ireland tours of Wicked and as the Baroness in Chitty Chitty Bang Bang.
Diorama Arts Cooperative (DAC) was a mixture of actors, artists, dancers, designers, journalists, musicians and therapists who used the Diorama theatre in Regent's Park between 1976 and 1992. In September 1981, DAC was incorporated as the charity Diorama Arts Centre.