Intimate Theatre

Last updated

an image of Intimate Theatre St Monica's Hall, Green Lanes, Palmers Green, London N13 - geograph.org.uk - 1106118.jpg
an image of Intimate Theatre

The Intimate Theatre was a repertory theatre in Palmers Green, London from 1937 to 1987, and is the name commonly used for St. Monica's Church Hall.

Contents

History

St. Monica's Church Hall was built in 1931, and the actor John Clements turned the building into the Intimate Theatre in 1935. [1] It became a full-time professional repertory theatre in 1937. [2]

After he was demobbed, Roger Moore was a member of the repertory company, and earned about £10 per week. [3] In the late 1940s, the BBC televised 14 plays from the theatre.

During the 1960s, the repertory company put on a new play each week, [4] although Max Rietmann's Hot and Cold in all Rooms played to a capacity audience for three weeks in 1962. [5]

In March 1968, David Bowie acted the role of Cloud in Lindsay Kemp's Pierrot In Turquoise at the theatre. [6]

In August 1968 Richard Todd starred in Man with a Load of Mischief with Dilys Laye. [7]

In 1969, the building reverted for a short time to its use as a church hall before returning to its use as a theatre. [8]

In 1987, the usage as a theatre was reduced to allow the church to hold other events. [9]

Current use

It has a current capacity of 435 Today (2012) the theatre was used by Protos Theatre & Arts Group, The London Pantomimers, [10] Acorn Theatre Company, [11] Saint Monica's Players, [12] and other amateur drama groups. It is located on Green Lanes. [2] In January 2019, it was placed on the Heritage at Risk Register after the church owners said they wanted to demolish the building to replace it with a new parish hall. [13]

Building scheduled for demolition

On 8 March, Enfield Council's Planning Committee voted unanimously to grant planning permission to the redevelopment scheme. [14]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Palmers Green</span> Human settlement in England

Palmers Green is a suburban area and electoral ward in North London, England, within the London Borough of Enfield. It is located within the N13 postcode district, around 8 miles (13 km) north of Charing Cross. It is home to the largest population of Greek Cypriots outside Cyprus and is often nicknamed "Little Cyprus" or "Palmers Greek".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Stanmore</span> Human settlement in England

Stanmore is part of the London Borough of Harrow in London. It is centred 11 miles (18 km) northwest of Charing Cross, lies on the outskirts of the London urban area and includes Stanmore Hill, one of the highest points of London, at 152 metres (499 ft) high. The district, which developed from the ancient Middlesex parishes of Great and Little Stanmore, lies immediately west of Roman Watling Street and forms the eastern part of the modern London Borough of Harrow.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">London Borough of Enfield</span> Borough in United Kingdom

The London Borough of Enfield is a London borough in North London. It borders the London boroughs of Barnet to the west, Haringey to the south, and Waltham Forest to the southeast. To the north are the districts of Hertsmere, Welwyn Hatfield and Broxbourne, and to the east is Epping Forest District in Essex. The local authority is Enfield London Borough Council. Enfield's population is estimated to be 333,794; the main towns in the borough are Edmonton, Enfield, Southgate and Palmers Green. Enfield is the northernmost London borough.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Royal Court Theatre, Liverpool</span> Theatre in Liverpool, England

The Royal Court Theatre is a theatre located at 1 Roe Street in Liverpool, England. The current Royal Court Theatre was opened on 17 October 1938, after fire destroyed its predecessor. It was rebuilt in Art Deco style and soon became Liverpool's premier theatre. The interior of the building has a nautical theme, in line with Liverpool's seafaring traditions. The design of the basement lounge is based on the Cunard liner Queen Mary. There are three viewing levels within the main auditorium: the Stalls, the Grand Circle and the Balcony.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Enfield Chase</span> Human settlement in England

Enfield Chase is an area of Enfield that is named for a former royal hunting ground. It comprises the majority of the open countryside within the London Borough of Enfield, and land north of the M25 within Hertfordshire. At the time of a survey by Francis Russell in 1776-7, the Chase extended from Monken Hadley in the west to Bulls Cross in the east, and from Potters Bar to Southgate.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Edmonton, London</span> District of London, England

Edmonton is a town in north London, England within the London Borough of Enfield, a local government district of Greater London. The northern part of the town is known as Lower Edmonton or Edmonton Green, and the southern part as Upper Edmonton. Situated 8.4 miles (13.5 km) north-northeast of Charing Cross, it borders Enfield to the north, Chingford to the east, and Tottenham to the south, with Palmers Green and Winchmore Hill to the west. The population of Edmonton was 82,472 as of 2011.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wrotham Park</span> English country house in Hertfordshire

Wrotham Park is a neo-Palladian English country house in the parish of South Mimms, Hertfordshire. It lies south of the town of Potters Bar, 17 miles (27 km) from Hyde Park Corner in central London. The house was designed by Isaac Ware in 1754 for Admiral John Byng, the fourth son of Admiral George Byng, 1st Viscount Torrington, and remains in the family at the heart of a 2,500-acre (10 km2) estate. It is one of the largest private houses near London inside the M25 motorway. Its distinctive exterior has been used over 60 times as a filming location.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The Playhouse Theatre (Perth)</span> Former theatre in Perth, Western Australia

The Playhouse Theatre in central Perth, Western Australia was purpose-built for live theatre in the 1950s and remained one of the city's principal venues for performing arts for over half a century until replaced by the State Theatre Centre of Western Australia in January 2011. It was demolished in October 2012 as part of a redevelopment of Cathedral Square.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Forty Hill</span> Suburb in Enfield, London

Forty Hill is a largely residential suburb in the north of the London Borough of Enfield, England. To the north is Bulls Cross, to the south Enfield Town, to the west Clay Hill, and to the east Enfield Highway. Prior to 1965 it was in the historic county of Middlesex.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lindsay Kemp</span> British dancer, actor, and mime

Lindsay Keith Kemp was a British dancer, actor, teacher, mime artist, and choreographer.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Golden Bough Playhouse</span>

The Golden Bough Playhouse is a historic two-story theatre in Carmel-by-the-Sea, California on Monte Verde St., between 8th and 9th Avenues. The playhouse occupies the site of the former Carmel Arts and Crafts Club, Carmel's first cultural center and theatre, built in 1906–1907 on Casanova Street, and the Arts and Crafts Hall, built in 1923–1924 on an adjacent lot on Monte Verde Street. The theatre was recorded with the National Register of Historic Places on July 3, 2002. It is significant as a California historic building because it is located on the original site of the Carmel Arts and Crafts Club and theatre, the oldest performing arts venues in Carmel.

The Hothouse (1958/1980) is a full-length tragicomedy written by Harold Pinter in the winter of 1958 between The Birthday Party (1957) and The Caretaker (1959). After writing The Hothouse in the winter of 1958 and following the initial commercial failure of The Birthday Party, Pinter put the play aside; in 1979 he re-read it and directed its first production, at Hampstead Theatre, where it opened on 24 April 1980, transferring to the Ambassadors Theatre on 25 June 1980, and it was first published, also in 1980, by Eyre Methuen. The play received its American premiere at the Trinity Repertory Company in 1982. Pinter himself played Roote in a subsequent production staged at the Minerva Theatre, in Chichester, in 1995, later transferring to the Comedy Theatre, in London.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Risley Residential College</span>

Prudence Risley Residential College for the Creative and Performing Arts, commonly known as Risley Residential College, Risley Hall, or just Risley, is a program house at Cornell University. Unlike most other dormitories on campus, Risley is a residential college; house members, or "Risleyites," have some say in the administration of the residence hall, can continue to reside there as long as they are enrolled at Cornell, are encouraged to eat together at the in-house dining hall, and participate in educational activities such as guest lectures within the dormitory.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sean Mathias</span> British actor

Sean Gerard Mathias is a Welsh actor, director, and writer. He is known for directing the film Bent and for directing highly acclaimed theatre productions in London, New York City, Cape Town, Los Angeles and Sydney.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lily Morris</span>

Lily Morris was an English music hall performer, who specialised in singing comedic songs, notably "Why Am I Always the Bridesmaid" and "Don't Have Any More, Missus Moore".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">St Monica's Church, Palmers Green</span> Church in London , United Kingdom

St Monica's Catholic Church is a parish of the Roman Catholic Church in the Palmers Green area of north London. The parish church is situated at the junction of Stonard Road and Green Lanes in the London Borough of Enfield.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Saint Monica's Players</span>

Saint Monica's Players (SMP) is an amateur dramatic society based in Enfield.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hulme Hippodrome</span> Theatre in Hulme, Manchester, England

The Hulme Hippodrome in Manchester, England, is a Grade 2 listed building, a proscenium arch theatre with two galleries and a side hall. It was originally known as the Grand Junction Theatre and Floral Hall, and opened on 7 October 1901 on the former main road of Preston Street, Hulme. It was also used for repertory theatre in 1940s, and for recording BBC programmes with audiences between 1950 and 1956. The theatre has been closed since 2018 and a campaign group exists to bring it back into use as a community resource. The stage doors are on Warwick Street. Its local name in memoirs and records is 'The Hipp'.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">St James' Church, Enfield Highway</span> Church in Middlesex, United Kingdom

St James' Church, Enfield Highway, is an active Anglican church in Hertford Road, Enfield Highway, Greater London. It is a parish church in the deanery of Enfield, the archdeaconry of Hampstead, and the diocese of London.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Millfield Theatre</span>

Millfield Theatre forms part of Millfield Arts Centre, which encompasses Millfield Theatre and Millfield House in Edmonton, and The Dugdale Centre in Enfield Town. The theatre is owned, managed and funded entirely by London Borough of Enfield. It has 17 full-time staff working on site at the theatre, and employs many more casual staff. Ushers at the theatre are all volunteers. The 18th Century Millfield House houses the theatre's administration and contains rooms which are available for hire, and also plays host to a number of educational classes and workshops for children and adults.

References

  1. Chambers, Colin (2006). "Continuum Companion to Twentieth Century Theatre". p.165. Continuum International Publishing Group. Retrieved 31 March 2011.
  2. 1 2 "Intimate (London)". Theatres Database. The Theatres Trust. Retrieved 31 March 2011.
  3. Moore, Roger. "Roger Moore from 1972 - page 4". Roger Moore - The Early Days. The Roger Moore Web Team. Retrieved 31 March 2011.
  4. Shellard, Dominic (4 September 2006). "Interview with Stephen Wischhusen". Theatre Archive Project. British Library. Retrieved 31 March 2011.
  5. Wischhusen, Stephen (6 September 2006). "Comment". Conference 'More Than Just Osborne?' 5 September 2006, 18.30-21.00. Theatre Archive Project. Retrieved 31 March 2011.
  6. Kinder, P. "1958-1969 Concert Performances". Tours. BowieWonderworld. Retrieved 31 March 2011.
  7. Man with a Load of Mischief, production details: West End Broadway: The Golden Age of the American Musical in London By Adrian Wright 2012
  8. T F T Baker, R B Pugh (Editors), A P Baggs, Diane K Bolton, Eileen P Scarff, G C Tyack (1976). "Edmonton: Social life". A History of the County of Middlesex: Volume 5: Hendon, Kingsbury, Great Stanmore, Little Stanmore, Edmonton Enfield, Monken Hadley, South Mimms, Tottenham. British History Online. Retrieved 31 March 2011.{{cite web}}: |last= has generic name (help)CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  9. "A Brief History of Risley Musical Theatre Company (Formerly Risley Operatic Group)". Risley Musical Theatre Company. Archived from the original on 4 March 2011. Retrieved 31 March 2011.
  10. The London Pantomimers Archived 2012-08-14 at the Wayback Machine Retrieved 29 May 2012
  11. Acorn Theatre Company Retrieved 29 May 2012
  12. St Monica's players Archived 2011-10-07 at the Wayback Machine Retrieved 10 May 2011
  13. Dex, Robert (22 January 2019). "The Intimate Theatre: Venue where Richard Attenborough made stage debut placed on 'at risk' list". Evening Standard.
  14. "The Intimate Theatre: Planning permission approved for Theatre at Risk Intimate Theatre".

Further reading

Coordinates: 51°37′27″N0°06′10″W / 51.6241°N 0.1029°W / 51.6241; -0.1029