 Southwark Playhouse | |
 | |
| Address | 77-85 Newington Causeway London, SE1 6BD England |
|---|---|
| Coordinates | 51°29′52″N0°05′55″W / 51.4976522°N 0.0984833°W |
| Public transit |  Elephant & Castle  Elephant & Castle |
| Type | Off West End Theatre |
| Production | Guest productions |
| Opened | 1993 |
| Website | |
| southwarkplayhouse.co.uk | |
Southwark Playhouse is a theatre in London, located between Borough and Elephant and Castle tube stations.
The Southwark Playhouse Theatre Company was founded in 1993 by Juliet Alderdice and Tom Wilson. They identified the need for a high quality accessible theatre which would also act as a major resource for the community. They leased a disused workshop in a then comparatively neglected part of Southwark and turned it into a flexible theatre space.
The theatre quickly put down strong roots in Southwark, developing an innovative, free-at-source education programme. [1] It has worked closely with teachers, Southwark Borough Council, businesses and government agencies to improve educational achievement and raise aspirations.[ citation needed ] This programme is in great demand and attracts substantial funding each year.[ citation needed ]
Over the next fifteen years the theatre established itself as one of London's leading studio theatres, [2] presenting high quality work by new and emerging theatre practitioners. Under successive artistic directors, Mehmet Ergen (now Artistic Director of the Arcola Theatre), Erica Whyman (subsequently Artistic Director of the Northern Stage Company and deputy Artistic Director of the Royal Shakespeare Company), Thea Sharrock and Gareth Machin (now Artistic Director of Salisbury Playhouse), it has become an indispensable part of small-scale fringe theatre in London. Its venue hire rates remain among the lowest and therefore the most competitive in London theatre, providing the opportunity to host the best of the emerging companies based in or visiting the capital.
Southwark Playhouse has moved venues twice in its 20-year history. After leaving its original home in Southwark Bridge Road in 2006, the theatre operated in vaults beneath platform one of London Bridge railway station, accessed from Tooley Street, from 2007 until early 2013. Since early 2013 the theatre has been based at 77-85 Newington Causeway. [3]
As of 2023 Southwark Playhouse has two venues in the Elephant & Castle area, Southwark Playhouse Borough (still based in 77-85 Newington Causeway) and Southwark Playhouse Elephant (located at Dante Place). [4]
Since 2009, the Playhouse also offers an opportunity to develop to young people (between the age of 11 and 18) living in the areas of Southwark, Lambeth and Lewisham, coming part of YoCo, their Young People Company. [5] [6]
The Playhouse also has an acting group for people aged 65 and over (the Elders Company) performing short plays onstage [7] and a People's Company for anyone aged 25 or over. [8]
In July 2012 it was announced that, due to the redevelopment of London Bridge Station, Southwark Playhouse would not be able to keep its home underneath the arches of the station. After a high-profile public campaign backed by Stephen Fry and Andy Serkis, [9] a space was secured in the new station complex as part of a Section 106 agreement with Network Rail which will allow the theatre to return to its London Bridge premises in 2021. [10]
Since 2013 Southwark Playhouse has been based at 77-85 Newington Causeway, in a 3-floor warehouse between Borough and Elephant and Castle tube stations. The temporary theatre, opened in May 2013, houses two performance spaces: a 240-seat main house known as the large and a 120-seat studio, 'the little'. There is also a rehearsal space and a bar/cafe area. [11]
The original plan for the theatre was to return to its Tooley Street location once the London Bridge redevelopment was completed in 2018. As of October 2020 this has not yet happened and the temporary home on Newington Causeway remains, but a new permanent 300-seat venue on Newington Butts is currently planned to be opened by 2021, along with a secondary satellite venue at Tooley Street with two spaces holding 200 and 150 seats. Funding is still in progress for these new sites to be opened. [12]
In January 2019, a production of All in a Row sparked controversy over the way that an autistic person was being represented in puppet form. [13] [14] [15]
Notable shows through its history are:
Southwark is a district of Central London situated on the south bank of the River Thames, forming the north-western part of the wider modern London Borough of Southwark. The district, which is the oldest part of South London, developed due to its position at the southern end of the early versions of London Bridge, for centuries the only dry crossing on the river. Around 43 AD, engineers of the Roman Empire found the geographic features of the south bank here suitable for the placement and construction of the first bridge.
Newington may refer to several places:
The London Borough of Southwark in South London forms part of Inner London and is connected by bridges across the River Thames to the City of London and London Borough of Tower Hamlets. It was created in 1965 when three smaller council areas amalgamated under the London Government Act 1963. All districts of the area are within the London postal district. It is governed by Southwark London Borough Council.
Newington is a district of South London, just south of the River Thames, and part of the London Borough of Southwark. It was an ancient parish and the site of the early administration of the county of Surrey. It was the location of the County of London Sessions House from 1917, in a building now occupied by the Inner London Crown Court.
Walworth is a district of south London, England, within the London Borough of Southwark. It adjoins Camberwell to the south and Elephant and Castle to the north, and is 1.9 miles (3.1 km) south-east of Charing Cross.
Elephant and Castle is an area of South London, England, in the London Borough of Southwark. The name also informally refers to much of Walworth and Newington, due to the proximity of the London Underground station of the same name. The name is derived from a local coaching inn.
New Kent Road is a 1 kilometre (0.6 mi) road in the London Borough of Southwark. The road was created in 1751 when the Turnpike Trust upgraded a local footpath. This was done as part of the general road improvements associated with the creation of Westminster Bridge; in effect it was possible to travel from the West End/ Westminster to the south-east without having to go via the Borough of Southwark but could now cross St George's Fields to the junction of Newington Causeway and Newington Butts which is where New Kent Road starts at Elephant & Castle. The route runs eastward for a few hundred yards to the junction of Great Dover Street and Tower Bridge Road, known as Bricklayers Arms, where it joins the original route to the south-east Old Kent Road.
Borough High Street is a road in Southwark, London, running south-west from London Bridge, forming part of the A3 route which runs from London to Portsmouth, on the south coast of England.
Tooley Street is a road in central and south London connecting London Bridge to St Saviour's Dock; it runs past Tower Bridge on the Southwark/Bermondsey side of the River Thames, and forms part of the A200 road.
Borough Road is in Southwark, London SE1. It runs east–west between St George's Circus and Borough High Street.
London Road is a short road in Southwark, Central London, England, which connects St George's Circus (northwest) and the Elephant and Castle roundabout (southeast). To the east is the campus of London South Bank University including the Technopark building and the London Road Building, in a triangle formed by London Road, Borough Road and Newington Causeway. At the southeastern end is the Elephant and Castle tube station.
Southwark Bridge Road is a road in Southwark, London, England, between Newington Causeway near Elephant and Castle and Southwark Bridge across the River Thames, leading to the City of London, in a meandering route.
Newington Causeway is a road in Southwark, London, between the Elephant and Castle and Borough High Street. Elephant & Castle Underground station is at the southern end. It follows the route of the old Roman road Stane Street.
Bermondsey and Old Southwark is a constituency in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament. Since 2015, it has been represented by Neil Coyle, who was elected as a Labour MP but was suspended from the party from 2022 to 2023 following an accusation of racism.
Newington Butts is a former hamlet, now an area of the London Borough of Southwark, London, England, that gives its name to a segment of the A3 road running south-west from the Elephant and Castle junction. The road continues as Kennington Park Road leading to Kennington; a fork right is Kennington Lane, leading to Vauxhall Bridge. Michael Faraday was born in Newington Butts in 1791.
SouthwarkCentral was a borough constituency returning a single Member of Parliament to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom through the first past the post voting system. The constituency was a very compact and urban area, and was one of three divisions of the Parliamentary Borough of Southwark, which was identical to the Metropolitan Borough of Southwark, in South London. The creation of the constituency was recommended by the Boundary Commission in a report issued in 1917, and formally created by the Representation of the People Act 1918. It came into existence at the 1918 general election.
The Charing Cross Theatre is an Off West End theatre under The Arches off Villiers Street below Charing Cross station. Founded in 1936, the venue occupied several premises in the West End of London before locating to its present site. The current site, from1946 to 2002, presented Victorian-style music hall under the name Players' Theatre. It was refurbished in 2005 and reopened under new management in 2006 as The New Players Theatre, before being taken under new management by Broadway producer Steven M. Levy and Sean Sweeney in 2011, when the theatre changed its name to the Charing Cross Theatre, with the Players Bar & Kitchen.
The Moment of Truth is a satire comedy drama play by Peter Ustinov written in 1951, telling the story of a Republic on the brink of defeat, while facing the threat of a political crisis with a crippled government structure.
Highpoint is a 142-metre, 46-storey, 458-apartment residential tower in Elephant and Castle in the London Borough of Southwark in London on the site of the London Park Hotel.
one of the most important venues on the London fringe
