The Soho Theatre is a

theatre Theatre or theater is a collaborative form of performing art that uses live performers, usually actors or actresses, to present the experience of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place, often a stage. The perfor ...

and registered charity in the

Soho Soho is an area of the City of Westminster, part of the West End of London. Originally a fashionable district for the aristocracy, it has been one of the main entertainment districts in the capital since the 19th century. The area was deve ...

district of the

City of Westminster The City of Westminster is a city and borough in Inner London. It is the site of the United Kingdom's Houses of Parliament and much of the British government. It occupies a large area of central Greater London, including most of the West En ...

, in

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe ...

. It produces and presents new works of theatre, together with comedy and cabaret, across three performance spaces. The theatre has established itself as a vital launchpad for new artists and offers commissions, attachments and residencies for both emerging and established writers. It has launched the careers of numerous screenwriters and comedians in theatre, film, TV and radio. The theatre's programme is a mix of

comedy Comedy is a genre of fiction that consists of discourses or works intended to be humorous or amusing by inducing laughter, especially in theatre, film, stand-up comedy, television, radio, books, or any other entertainment medium. The term o ...

cabaret Cabaret is a form of theatrical entertainment featuring music, song, dance, recitation, or drama. The performance venue might be a pub, a casino, a hotel, a restaurant, or a nightclub with a stage for performances. The audience, often dinin ...

and

, with a particular focus on new writing and alternative comedy.

Soho Theatre Company

The Soho Theatre Company was formed in 1969 by Verity Bargate and Fred Proud, and initially performed at a venue in

Old Compton Street Old Compton Street is a road that runs east–west through Soho in the West End of London. History The street was named after Henry Compton who raised funds for a local parish church, eventually dedicated as St Anne's Church in 1686. Th ...

. Soon, the company moved to the Soho Poly, where it would remain for eighteen years. Sue Dunderdale was artistic director of the company for several years in the 1980s. In 1990, the Soho Theatre Company entered a brief migrational period during which it visited the venues of the

Royal Court Theatre The Royal Court Theatre, at different times known as the Court Theatre, the New Chelsea Theatre, and the Belgravia Theatre, is a non-commercial West End theatre in Sloane Square, in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, London, England ...

Riverside Studios Riverside Studios is an arts centre on the banks of the River Thames in Hammersmith, London, England. The venue plays host to contemporary performance, film, visual art exhibitions and television production. Having closed for redevelopment ...

, and the

Institute of Contemporary Arts The Institute of Contemporary Arts (ICA) is an artistic and cultural centre on The Mall in London, just off Trafalgar Square. Located within Nash House, part of Carlton House Terrace, near the Duke of York Steps and Admiralty Arch, the I ...

. The company was revitalised when it took up residence at the Cockpit Theatre of

Marylebone Marylebone (usually , also , ) is a district in the West End of London, in the City of Westminster. Oxford Street, Europe's busiest shopping street, forms its southern boundary. An ancient parish and latterly a metropolitan borough, it ...

from 1993 to 1995. During this period it expanded its Writers' Development programme, and premiered the works of over 35 new writers.

Soho Theatre on Dean Street

In 2000, the theatre moved to its current home on

Dean Street Dean Street is a street in Soho, central London, running from Oxford Street south to Shaftesbury Avenue. Historical figures and places In 1764 Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, then a young boy, gave a recital at 21 Dean Street. Admiral Nelson stayed ...

. The purpose-built venue houses the 165-seat Main House, the 90-seat Studio, and the 140-seat Cabaret Space. The ground and lower-ground floors are also occupied by the Soho Theatre Bar. Its current executive director is Mark Godfrey and its Creative Director is David Luff. Following his 2018 appointment as Creative Director, Soho Theatre has undertaken a re-investment in commissioning and producing new plays, moving towards a producer-led playhouse model. Their creative team is a tight-knit group of associates including Head of Comedy Steve Lock, Associate Directors Lakesha Arie-Angelo and Adam Brace, Touring Producer Sarah Dodd and their newly appointed Literary Manager, Gillian Greer. In 2014, the theatre was fined £20,000 for a health and safety incident in which a stage manager, Rachael Presdee, was paralysed in a fall through an unmarked balcony door on to the stage some three metres below. Compensation of £3.7m was agreed with Miss Presdee.

The Verity Bargate Award

The Verity Bargate Award is Soho Theatre's flagship new writing award with the winning play produced in a full production on their stages. For almost 50 years, Soho Theatre has championed new writing and since 1982, the Verity Bargate Award has uncovered the best new and emerging writers. It has launched the careers of some of Britain's most established playwrights and screenwriters including Matt Charman (''Bridge of Spies''), Vicky Jones (Touch at Soho Theatre),

Toby Whithouse Toby Lawrence Whithouse (; born 5 July 1970) is an English actor, screenwriter and playwright. His highest-profile work has been the creation of the BBC Three supernatural television series '' Being Human''. He also created the Channel 4 telev ...

(''Doctor Who'') and many, many more. The 2020 award is judged by a panel of industry experts including former Soho writers

Phoebe Waller-Bridge Phoebe Mary Waller-Bridge (born 14 July 1985) is an English actress and screenwriter. She is best known as the creator, head writer, and star of the BBC sitcom ''Fleabag'' (2016–2019), which was based on her one-woman show of the same name. ...

Arinzé Kene Arinzé Mokwe Kene () is a Nigerian-born British actor and playwright. Early life In 1987, Kene was born in Lagos, Nigeria and moved to London when he was four. Kene's father was a taxi driver. Kene was bullied growing up and was encouraged ...

and Laura Wade, screenwriter

Russell T Davies Stephen Russell Davies (born 27 April 1963), better known as Russell T Davies, is a Welsh screenwriter and television producer whose works include ''Queer as Folk'', '' The Second Coming'', ''Casanova'', the 2005 revival of the BBC One scien ...

, actress and playwright

Lolita Chakrabarti Lolita Chakrabarti (born 1 June 1969) is a British actress and writer. Early life Chakrabarti was born in Kingston upon Hull, England, to Bengali Hindu parents from India on 1 June 1969. She grew up in Birmingham, where her father worked as ...

and Character 7's

Stephen Garrett Stephen Ellis Garrett (November 11, 1974 – February 25, 2008), known professionally as Static Major (and previously as Static), was an American singer, songwriter, and record producer from Louisville, Kentucky. He was a member of the R&B tri ...

. The award was established in 1981–82 in memory of Verity Bargate, the founder and first artistic director of Soho Theatre.

Playwrights

Soho Poly period

Howard Brenton Howard John Brenton FRSL (born 13 December 1942) is an English playwright and screenwriter. While little-known in the United States, he is celebrated in his home country and often ranked alongside contemporaries such as Edward Bond, Caryl Chu ...

Sue Townsend Susan Lillian Townsend, FRSL (née Johnstone, 2 April 194610 April 2014), was an English writer and humorist whose work encompasses novels, plays and works of journalism. She was best known for creating the character Adrian Mole. After writing ...

Hanif Kureishi Hanif Kureishi (born 5 December 1954) is a British playwright, screenwriter, filmmaker and novelist of South Asian and English descent. In 2008, ''The Times'' included Kureishi in its list of the 50 greatest British writers since 1945. Early l ...

Timberlake Wertenbaker Timberlake Wertenbaker is a British-based playwright, screenplay writer, and translator who has written plays for the Royal Court, the Royal Shakespeare Company and others. She has been described in ''The Washington Post'' as "the doyenne of po ...

* Tony Marchant *

Pam Gems Pam Gems (1 August 1925 – 13 May 2011) was an English playwright. The author of numerous original plays, as well as of adaptations of works by European playwrights of the past, Gems is best known for the 1978 musical play '' Piaf''. Person ...

Karim Alrawi Karim Alrawi (Arabic كريم الراوي) is a writer born in Alexandria, Egypt. He has taught at universities in the UK, Egypt, US and Canada. He was an International Writing Fellow at the University of Iowa and taught creative writing at the ...

Barrie Keeffe __NOTOC__ Barrie Colin Keeffe (31 October 1945 – 10 December 2019) was an English dramatist and screenwriter. Best known for his screenplay for the gangster classic, '' The Long Good Friday'' (1980), starring Bob Hoskins and Helen Mirren, Kee ...

Brian Clarke Brian Clarke (born 2 July 1953) is a British painter, architectural artist and printmaker, known for his large-scale stained glass and mosaic projects, symbolist paintings, set designs, and collaborations with major figures in Modern and con ...

* David Edgar * Mary O'Malley *

Colin Spencer Colin Spencer (born 1933) is an English writer and artist who has produced a prolific body of work in a wide variety of media since his first published short stories and drawings appeared in ''The London Magazine'' and '' Encounter'' when he wa ...

Soho Theatre period

* Vicky Jones *

Phoebe Eclair-Powell Phoebe Eclair-Powell (born 1990) is a British playwright from South-East London. Her plays include ''WINK'' (Theatre503) and ''One Under'' (Pleasance Below). As an actress, she appeared in Peckham: The Soap Opera at the Royal Court. Her play Fur ...

Theresa Ikoko Theresa Ikoko is a British playwright and screenwriter of Nigerian descent. Her play ''Girls'', about three girls abducted by terrorists in northern Nigeria, won the Alfred Fagon Award and other awards. Ikoko later gained greater nationwide rec ...

* Gabriel Bissett-Smith *Jennifer Kidwell & Scott R. Sheppard *

Jessie Cave Jessica Alice Cave Lloyd (born 5 May 1987) is an English actress, comedian and cartoonist, known for her role as Lavender Brown in the ''Harry Potter'' film series and for her shows in London and at the Edinburgh Fringe. She has also publishe ...

*Lucy McCormick *Maddie Rice *Sh!t Theatre *Ryan Calais Cameron *Dylan Coburn Gray * Iman Qureshi

Sources

External links

Soho Theatre
Official website {{Authority control Theatres in the City of Westminster 2000 establishments in England Soho, London