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| Address | Unit 2A Queen's Yard, Hackney Wick London United Kingdom |
|---|---|
| Public transit |  Hackney Wick |
| Type | Non-profit producing theatre, music venue, community organisation |
| Capacity | 110 seats |
| Construction | |
| Years active | 2011–present |
| Architect | Practice Architecture |
| Website | |
| www | |
The Yard Theatre is a theatre in a converted warehouse in Hackney Wick in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. It programmes theatre and performance, nightlife, and works with young people and its local community. [1]
The Yard was founded by Artistic Director Jay Miller in 2011, with support from Tarek Iskander, Sasha Milavic Davies and Alex Rennie. They worked with architectural firm Practice Architecture to convert a disused warehouse into a theatre and bar. [2] Originally intended to have a 3-month life-span, The Yard became an Arts Council England National Portfolio Organisation in 2017. [3] In 2016 it took over management of Hackney Wick community centre Hub67, [4] and in 2019 took on The Hall in East Village, London Borough of Newham. [5]
The Yard was awarded the final Peter Brook Empty Space Award in 2017, [6] as well as the Dan Crawford Innovation Award in 2012. [7]
Shows that originated at The Yard include Michaela Coel’s Chewing Gum Dreams, which later transferred to the National Theatre and became the hit BBC show Chewing Gum . Its successful nightlife programme has been featured in national press, [8] [9] [10] and in the New York Times. [11]
Recent theatre productions include a gender-swapped production of Arthur Miller's The Crucible , [12] the premiere of Pulitzer Award-winning writer Clare Barron’s Dirty Crusty, [13] and an entirely digital day of online performance, Yard Online. [14] From March 2020, The Yard took all of its community and young people's work online in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. [15]
The Yard reopened post-pandemic with a season featuring Gracie Gardner's Athena, directed by Grace Gummer in conjunction with the National Theatre, alongside Lanre Malaolu's SAMSKARA and Dipo Baruwa-Etti's An unfinished man. This was followed by The Flea in 2023.
The London Borough of Hackney is a London borough in Inner London, England. The historical and administrative heart of Hackney is Mare Street, which lies 5 miles (8 km) north-east of Charing Cross. The borough is named after Hackney, its principal district. Southern and eastern parts of the borough are popularly regarded as being part of east London, with the northwest belonging to north London. Its population is 281,120 inhabitants.
Hackney Central is a London Overground station on the North London line in Hackney Central, Greater London. It lies between Dalston Kingsland and Homerton and is in Travelcard Zone 2. The station and all trains serving it are operated by London Overground services which are managed by Transport for London. However, there is no standard red National Rail "double arrow" logo signage at the station, instead only the Overground roundel.
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"Chewing Gum" is a song by Norwegian singer Annie from her debut studio album, Anniemal (2004). Written by Richard X and Hannah Robinson, the song is based on metaphor which likens men to chewing gum.
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Kate Bassett is a British journalist who writes for The Times newspaper as a theatre critic.
Michaela Ewuraba Boakye-Collinson, known professionally as Michaela Coel, is a British actress, filmmaker, poet, singer, and composer. She is best known for creating and starring in the E4 sitcom Chewing Gum (2015–2017), for which she won the BAFTA Award for Best Female Comedy Performance; and the BBC One/HBO comedy-drama series I May Destroy You (2020) for which she won the British Academy Television Award for Best Actress in 2021. For her work on I May Destroy You, Coel was the first black woman to win the Emmy Award for Outstanding Writing for a Limited Series, Movie, or Dramatic Special at the 73rd Primetime Emmy Awards.
Robert Lonsdale is an English actor and musician.
Chewing Gum is a British television sitcom created and written by Michaela Coel, based on her 2012 play Chewing Gum Dreams. It stars Coel as 24-year-old shop assistant Tracey Gordon, a restricted, religious virgin, who wants to have sex and learn more about the world. The show earned Coel the BAFTA for Best Female Performance in a Comedy Programme and Breakthrough Talent.
David Kohn is a British architect. His practice, David Kohn Architects, is based in London and works internationally on arts, education and residential projects.
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