Southwark Playhouse is a theatre in London, located between

Borough A borough is an administrative division in various English-speaking countries. In principle, the term ''borough'' designates a self-governing walled town, although in practice, official use of the term varies widely. History In the Middle Ag ...

and Elephant and Castle tube stations.

History

The Southwark Playhouse Theatre Company was founded in 1993 by Juliet Alderdice and Tom Wilson. They identified the need for a high quality accessible theatre which would also act as a major resource for the community. They leased a disused workshop in a then comparatively neglected part of

Southwark Southwark ( ) is a district of Central London situated on the south bank of the River Thames, forming the north-western part of the wider modern London Borough of Southwark. The district, which is the oldest part of South London, developed ...

and turned it into a flexible theatre space. The theatre quickly put down strong roots in Southwark, developing an innovative, free-at-source education programme. It has worked closely with teachers, Southwark Borough Council, businesses and government agencies to improve educational achievement and raise aspirations. This programme is in great demand and attracts substantial funding each year. Over the next fifteen years the theatre established itself as one of London's leading studio theatres, presenting high quality work by new and emerging theatre practitioners. Under successive artistic directors, Mehmet Ergen (now Artistic Director of the

Arcola Theatre Arcola Theatre is an Off West End theatre in the London Borough of Hackney. It presents plays, operas and musicals featuring established and emerging artists. The theatre building, in the former Colourworks paint factory on Ashwin Street, Dals ...

Erica Whyman Erica Whyman, OBE (born 27 October 1969) is an English theatre director who became deputy artistic director at the Royal Shakespeare Company in January 2013. Background Whyman was born in Harrogate, Yorkshire, but lived in Barnsley until aged ei ...

(subsequently Artistic Director of the Northern Stage Company and deputy Artistic Director of the

Royal Shakespeare Company The Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC) is a major British theatre company, based in Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire, England. The company employs over 1,000 staff and produces around 20 productions a year. The RSC plays regularly in London, St ...

Thea Sharrock Thea Sharrock (born 1976) is an English theatre and film director. In 2001, when at age 24 she became artistic director of London's Southwark Playhouse, she was the youngest artistic director in British theatre. Early life and education Sharro ...

and Gareth Machin (now Artistic Director of

Salisbury Playhouse Salisbury Playhouse is a theatre in the English city of Salisbury, Wiltshire. It was built in 1976 and comprises the 517-seat Main House and the 149-seat Salberg, a rehearsal room and a community & education space. It is part of Arts Council En ...

), it has become an indispensable part of small-scale fringe theatre in London. Its venue hire rates remain among the lowest and therefore the most competitive in London theatre, providing the opportunity to host the best of the emerging companies based in or visiting the capital. Southwark Playhouse (4629479305)

Southwark Playhouse has moved venues twice in its 20-year history. After leaving its original home in Southwark Bridge Road in 2006, the theatre operated in vaults beneath platform one of

London Bridge railway station London Bridge is a central London railway terminus and connected London Underground station in Southwark, south-east London. It occupies a large area on three levels immediately south-east of London Bridge, from which it takes its name. The m ...

, accessed from

Tooley Street Tooley Street is a road in central and south London connecting London Bridge to St Saviour's Dock; it runs past Tower Bridge on the Southwark/Bermondsey side of the River Thames, and forms part of the A200 road. (.) St Olave The earliest na ...

, from 2007 until early 2013. Since early 2013 the theatre has been based at 77-85 Newington Causeway, and plans to move to a new permanent venue on Newington Butts by 2021, as well as a smaller satellite venue on the site of its earlier London Bridge location.

Plans

In July 2012 it was announced that, due to the redevelopment of London Bridge Station, Southwark Playhouse would not be able to keep its home underneath the arches of the station. After a high-profile public campaign backed by

Stephen Fry Stephen John Fry (born 24 August 1957) is an English actor, broadcaster, comedian, director and writer. He first came to prominence in the 1980s as one half of the comic double act Fry and Laurie, alongside Hugh Laurie, with the two starring ...

and

Andy Serkis Andrew Clement Serkis (born 20 April 1964) is an English actor, director, and producer. He is best known for his performance capture roles comprising motion capture acting, animation, and voice work for computer-generated characters such as Go ...

, a space was secured in the new station complex as part of a

Section 106 agreement The Town and Country Planning Act 1990c 8 is an act of the United Kingdom Parliament regulating the development of land in England and Wales. It is a central part of English land law in that it concerns town and country planning in the United Ki ...

with

Network Rail Network Rail Limited is the owner (via its subsidiary Network Rail Infrastructure Limited, which was known as Railtrack plc before 2002) and infrastructure manager of most of the railway network in Great Britain. Network Rail is an "arm's len ...

which will allow the theatre to return to its London Bridge premises in 2021. Since 2013 Southwark Playhouse has been based at 77-85 Newington Causeway, in a 3-floor warehouse between Borough and Elephant and Castle tube stations. The temporary theatre, opened in May 2013, houses two performance spaces: a 240-seat 'Main House' and a 120-seat 'Studio'. There is also a rehearsal space and a bar/cafe area. The original plan for the theatre was to return to its Tooley Street location once the London Bridge redevelopment was completed in 2018. As of October 2020 this has not yet happened and the temporary home on Newington Causeway remains, but a new permanent 300-seat venue on Newington Butts is currently planned to be opened by 2021, along with a secondary satellite venue at Tooley Street with two spaces holding 200 and 150 seats. Funding is still in progress for these new sites to be opened.

Controversies

In January 2019, a production of '' All in a Row'' sparked controversy over the way that an

autistic The autism spectrum, often referred to as just autism or in the context of a professional diagnosis autism spectrum disorder (ASD) or autism spectrum condition (ASC), is a neurodevelopmental condition (or conditions) characterized by difficulti ...

person was being represented in puppet form.

References

External links

Southwark Playhouse's website
{{Theatres in London Theatres in the London Borough of Southwark Arts organizations established in 1993 1993 establishments in England