The Yard Theatre, opened in 2011, is a theatre in a converted warehouse in

Hackney Wick Hackney Wick is a neighbourhood in East London, England. The area forms the south-eastern part of the district of Hackney, and also of the wider London Borough of Hackney. Adjacent areas of the London Borough of Tower Hamlets, namely Fish I ...

in the

London Borough of Tower Hamlets The London Borough of Tower Hamlets is a London boroughs, borough in London, England. Situated on the north bank of the River Thames and immediately east of the City of London, the borough spans much of the traditional East End of London and ...

. It programmes theatre and performance, nightlife, and works with young people and its local community.

History

The Yard was founded by Artistic Director Jay Miller in 2011, with support from Tarek Iskander, Sasha Milavic Davies and Alex Rennie. They worked with architectural firm Practice Architecture to convert a disused warehouse into a theatre and bar. Originally intended to have a 3-month life-span, The Yard became an

Arts Council England Arts Council England is an arm's length non-departmental public body of the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, Department for Culture, Media and Sport. It is also a registered charity. It was formed in 1994 when the Arts Council o ...

National Portfolio Organisation Arts Council England is an arm's length non-departmental public body of the Department for Culture, Media and Sport. It is also a registered charity. It was formed in 1994 when the Arts Council of Great Britain was divided into three separate b ...

in 2017. In 2016 it took over management of Hackney Wick community centre Hub67, and in 2019 took on The Hall in East Village,

London Borough of Newham The London Borough of Newham () is a London borough created in 1965 by the London Government Act 1963. It covers an area previously administered by the Essex county boroughs of West Ham and East Ham, authorities that were both abolished by ...

. In 2024, it was awarded a £700,000 from

's Capital Investment Programme to go towards major refurbishment and extension of the organisation's current building.

Awards

The Yard was awarded the final

Peter Brook Peter Stephen Paul Brook (21 March 1925 – 2 July 2022) was an English theatre and film director. He worked first in England, from 1945 at the Birmingham Repertory Theatre, from 1947 at the Royal Opera House, and from 1962 for the Royal Shak ...

Empty Space Award in 2013 and 2017, as well as the Dan Crawford Innovation Award in 2012.

Programme

Shows that originated at The Yard include

Michaela Coel Michaela Ewuraba Boakye-Collinson (born 1987), known professionally as Michaela Coel, is a British actress, writer and television director. She is best known for creating and starring in the E4 television sitcom ''Chewing Gum'' (2015–2017), ...

’s ''Chewing Gum Dreams'', which later transferred to the National Theatre and became the hit

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

show ''

Chewing Gum Chewing gum is a soft, cohesive substance designed to be chewed without being swallowed. Modern chewing gum is composed of gum base, sweeteners, softeners/plasticizers, flavors, colors, and, typically, a hard or powdered polyol coating. Its tex ...

''. Its successful nightlife programme has been featured in national press, and in the

New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

. Theatre productions include a gender-swapped production of Arthur Miller's ''

The Crucible ''The Crucible'' is a 1953 play by the American playwright Arthur Miller. It is a dramatized and partially fictionalized story of the Salem witch trials that took place in the Province of Massachusetts Bay from 1692 to 1693. Miller wrote ...

'', the premiere of Pulitzer Award-winning writer

Clare Barron Clare Barron is a playwright and actor from Wenatchee, Washington. She won the 2015 Obie Award, Obie Award for Playwriting for ''You Got Older''. She was a finalist for the 2019 Pulitzer Prize for Drama for ''Dance Nation.'' Early life In an ...

’s ''Dirty Crusty'', and an entirely digital day of online performance, Yard Online. From March 2020, The Yard took all of its community and young people's work online in response to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

. The Yard reopened after the pandemic with a season featuring Gracie Gardner's ''Athena'', directed by Grace Gummer in conjunction with the National Theatre, alongside Lanre Malaolu's ''SAMSKARA'' and Dipo Baruwa-Etti's ''An unfinished man''. In 2022, they premiered

Vinay Patel Vinay Sunilkumar Patel (born 1986) is a British-Indian screenwriter and playwright. He is best known for writing the BBC drama '' Murdered by My Father''. Early life Patel was born in Sidcup, South East London. He graduated with a Bachelor of A ...

's reimagining of

Anton Chekhov Anton Pavlovich Chekhov (; ; 29 January 1860 – 15 July 1904) was a Russian playwright and short-story writer, widely considered to be one of the greatest writers of all time. His career as a playwright produced four classics, and his b ...

's ''

The Cherry Orchard ''The Cherry Orchard'' () is the last play by Russian playwright Anton Chekhov. Written in 1903, it was first published by '' Znaniye'' (Book Two, 1904), and came out as a separate edition later that year in Saint Petersburg, via A.F. Marks Pu ...

'', set in space and featuring a fully South Asian cast. In 2023, they premiered '' James Fritz's The Flea,'' a retelling of the 1889 Cleveland Street Scandal''.'' In 2024, they then premiered a season featuring HOTTER Project's ''The Last Show Before We Die'', Rhianna Ilube's ''Samuel Takes a Break in Male Dungeon No. 5 After a Generally Successful Day of Tours'' about a fictional tour guide working at Ghana's

Cape Coast Castle Cape Coast Castle () is one of about forty slave fort, "slave castles", or large commercial forts, built on the Gold Coast (region), Gold Coast of West Africa (now Ghana) by European traders. It was originally a Portuguese "feitoria" or Factory ( ...

and Sami Ibrahim's ''Multiple Casualty Incident''. Founder Jay Miller's credits at The Yard Theatre have included '' The Flea'' by James Fritz, ''This Beautiful Future'' by Rita Kalnejais, ''

Arthur Miller Arthur Asher Miller (October 17, 1915 – February 10, 2005) was an American playwright, essayist and screenwriter in the 20th-century American theater. Among his most popular plays are '' All My Sons'' (1947), '' Death of a Salesman'' (1 ...

'' starring

Emma D'Arcy Emma Zia D'Arcy (born 27 June 1992) is an English actor known for their roles in the BBC drama ''Wanderlust'' (2018), the Amazon Prime series '' Truth Seekers'' (2020), and the HBO fantasy series ''House of the Dragon'' (2022–present). They ...

'',','' ''Dirty Crusty'' by

, ''Removal Men'' by MJ Harding, ''Lines'' by Pamela Carter, starring

Ncuti Gatwa Mizero Ncuti Gatwa ( ; born 15 October 1992) is a Rwandan-Scottish actor. After a screen Breakthrough role, breakthrough portraying Eric Effiong in Sex Education (TV series), ''Sex Education'' (2019–2023), he rose to further prominence as the ...

. The Yard Theatre also programmes nightlife. Notable parties and collectives past and present include INFERNO, Pxssy Palace, Knickerbocker, Queer House Party, Mind Ur Head, T-Boys, GGI, DOOMSCROLL, Popola and Habibti Nation.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Yard Theatre, The Music venues in London Music venues completed in 2011 Theatres in the London Borough of Hackney Hackney Wick