St_Monica's_Hall,_Green_Lanes,_Palmers_Green,_London_N13_-_geograph

The Intimate Theatre was a repertory theatre in

Palmers Green 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 north of Charing Cross. It is home to the largest population of Greek Cy ...

, London from 1937 to 1987, and is the name commonly used for St. Monica's Church Hall.

History

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

demobbed Demobilization or demobilisation (see spelling differences) is the process of standing down a nation's armed forces from combat-ready status. This may be as a result of victory in war, or because a crisis has been peacefully resolved and milita ...

Roger Moore Sir Roger George Moore (14 October 192723 May 2017) was an English actor. He was the third actor to portray fictional British secret agent James Bond in the Eon Productions film series, playing the character in seven feature films between 1 ...

was a member of the repertory company, and earned about £10 per week. 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, although Max Rietmann's ''Hot and Cold in all Rooms'' played to a capacity audience for three weeks in 1962. In March 1968,

David Bowie David Robert Jones (8 January 194710 January 2016), known professionally as David Bowie ( ), was an English singer-songwriter and actor. A leading figure in the music industry, he is regarded as one of the most influential musicians of the ...

acted the role of Cloud in

Lindsay Kemp Lindsay Keith Kemp (3 May 1938British Film Institute entry for Lindsa ...

's ''Pierrot In Turquoise'' at the theatre. In August 1968

Richard Todd Richard Andrew Palethorpe-Todd (11 June 19193 December 2009) was an Irish-British actor known for his leading man roles of the 1950s. He received a Golden Globe Award for Most Promising Newcomer – Male, and an Academy Award for Best Actor n ...

starred in Man with a Load of Mischief with

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. In 1969, the building reverted for a short time to its use as a church hall before returning to its use as a theatre. In 1987, the usage as a theatre was reduced to allow the church to hold other events.

Current use

It has a current capacity of 435 Today (2012) the theatre was used by Protos Theatre & Arts Group, The London Pantomimers, Acorn Theatre Company,

Saint Monica's Players Saint Monica's Players (SMP) is an amateur dramatic society based in Enfield. It was formed in 1958 out of the Saint Monica's church of Palmers Green. The group has performed over 200 different plays and musicals at local theatres and drama fe ...

, and other amateur drama groups. It is located on Green Lanes. In January 2019, it was placed on the

Heritage at Risk Register An annual ''Heritage at Risk Register'' is published by Historic England. The survey is used by national and local government, a wide range of individuals and heritage groups to establish the extent of risk and to help assess priorities for acti ...

after the church owners said they wanted to demolish the building to replace it with a new parish hall.

Building scheduled for demolition

Unfortunately, on 8 March, Enfield Council's Planning Committee voted unanimously to grant planning permission to the redevelopment scheme.

History

Current use

Building scheduled for demolition

References

Further reading