Hoxton Hall is a performance arts theatre and community centre in the

Hoxton Hoxton is an area in the London Borough of Hackney, England. It was Historic counties of England, historically in the county of Middlesex until 1889. Hoxton lies north-east of the City of London, is considered to be a part of London's East End ...

area of

Shoreditch Shoreditch is an area in London, England and is located in the London Borough of Hackney alongside neighbouring parts of Tower Hamlets, which are also perceived as part of the area due to historic ecclesiastical links. Shoreditch lies just north ...

, at 130 Hoxton Street, in the

London Borough of Hackney The London Borough of Hackney ( ) is a London boroughs, London borough in Inner London, England. The historical and administrative heart of Hackney is Mare Street, which lies north-east of Charing Cross. The borough is named after Hackney, Lond ...

. A grade II*

listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building is a structure of particular architectural or historic interest deserving of special protection. Such buildings are placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Hi ...

, the theatre was first built as a

music hall Music hall is a type of British theatrical entertainment that was most popular from the early Victorian era, beginning around 1850, through the World War I, Great War. It faded away after 1918 as the halls rebranded their entertainment as Varie ...

in 1863, as MacDonald's Music Hall. It is an unrestored example of the saloon style. In the theatre, an iron-railed, two tier galleried auditorium rises on three sides, supported on cast iron columns above a small, high, multi-tiered stage. It survives largely in its original form, as for many years it was used as a

Quaker Quakers are people who belong to the Religious Society of Friends, a historically Protestant Christian set of denominations. Members refer to each other as Friends after in the Bible, and originally, others referred to them as Quakers ...

meeting house. The music hall lost its performance licence in 1871 due to complaints by the police; it was sold, and the new owners applied for a licence in 1876, but were again rejected. William Isaac Palmer (1824–1893) purchased it on behalf of the Blue Ribbon Gospel Temperance Mission in 1879. Palmer was an heir to the Huntley and Palmer biscuit family and spent much of his fortune on charity. On Palmer's death, the hall passed to the Bedford Institute, a Quaker organisation dedicated to running adult schools and alleviating the effects of poverty. Today, the hall is used as a community centre and performance space.

Notable recent performances

*On invitation from Lisa Goldman, artistic director of the theatre company The Red Room, Leo Asemota created video installations and a portfolio of photographic portraits of

residents for the site-specific production '' Hoxton Story'' which opened at Hoxton Hall, to performances on 10 September 2005 * Robert Newman filmed a television programme entitled ''A History of Oil'' for

More4 More4 is a British free-to-air television channel, owned by Channel Four Television Corporation. The channel launched on 10 October 2005. Its programming mainly focuses on lifestyle and documentaries, as well as foreign dramas. Content The i ...

at Hoxton Hall. The show is a mixture of stand-up comedy and an introductory lecture on

geopolitics Geopolitics () is the study of the effects of Earth's geography on politics and international relations. Geopolitics usually refers to countries and relations between them, it may also focus on two other kinds of State (polity), states: ''de fac ...

and

peak oil Peak oil is the point when global oil production reaches its maximum rate, after which it will begin to decline irreversibly. The main concern is that global transportation relies heavily on gasoline and diesel. Adoption of electric vehicles ...

. Based on his touring show, ''Apocalypso Now,'' Newman argues that twentieth-century Western foreign policy, including

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

, should be seen as a continuous struggle by the West to control

Middle East The Middle East (term originally coined in English language) is a geopolitical region encompassing the Arabian Peninsula, the Levant, Turkey, Egypt, Iran, and Iraq. The term came into widespread usage by the United Kingdom and western Eur ...

ern oil.

References

* ''Guide to British Theatres 1750-1950'', John Earl and Michael Sell pp. 118–9 (Theatres Trust, 2000)

External links

Olive Yarrow's Memories of Hoxton HallHoxton Hall official siteTheatres Trust database entry
held at the

University of East London University of East London (UEL) is a public university located in the London Borough of Newham, London, England, based at three campuses in Stratford, London, Stratford and London Docklands, Docklands, following the opening of University Squar ...

's East London Theatre Archive Community centres in London Grade II* listed buildings in the London Borough of Hackney Music hall venues in the United Kingdom Theatres in the London Borough of Hackney Grade II* listed theatres Hoxton Shoreditch {{UK-theat-struct-stub