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UPDATE: 02.04.2013
Happy Easter!
We’re thrilled to be sharing details of the very first shows in our new home on Newington Causeway today. We’ve decided to call our spaces The Large (240-capacity) and The Little (120-capacity). Opening in The Large on 21 May – previews from 15 May – is the first major London revival in over 30 years of Claire Luckham’s brilliant play Trafford Tanzi. Re-titled Tanzi Libre (because it’s going to include Luche libra wrestling!), it’ll be directed by our former Artistic Director Ellie Jones. Casting and other creative details are currently TBC but we’re hoping to share details of our all-singing (yes, there’s a few songs…), all-wrestling actors in a couple of weeks. For more information and to book tickets you can click here.
Opening in The Little a week later is the London premiere of the Fringe First Award winning Juana in a Million. This is a one-woman show that we were blown away by at the Edinburgh Festival last year. Beautifully performed by emerging Mexican writer-performer Vicky Araico Casas, it’s an incredibly powerful production that explores the true story of immigrants to the UK. We’re so pleased to be welcoming Vicky and her team to open the studio space. You can read more about the show here or follow her on Twitter, she’s @JuanainaMillion
Finally, good news if you’re a resident of Southwark!. To celebrate our opening, we’re giving away 1000 free tickets across the run of Tanzi Libre. For more information call us on 020 7407 0234. All tickets need to be booked over the phone and all you need to do is provide proof of address during the phone call and also in person when you pick up your tickets.
Let us know what you think of our new shows by tweeting us @swkplay or joining us on Facebook, search for ‘Southwark Playhouse’.
Hope to welcome you all at 77-85 Newington Causeway in May…
UPDATE: 13.11.2012
Hi all, we know it’s been a long time but we’re finally able to update you with some information on our new venue which we’ll be moving to after the final performance of Philip Ridley’s Feathers in the Snow on 5 January 2013.
We’ve managed to secure a huge warehouse in the heart of Southwark on Newington Causeway which is just three minutes from Elephant and Castle Tube and six minutes from Borough Tube. The good news is that we’ll have 2,000 more square feet to play with which means that the theatre will be able to have a bar and café that will be open to everyone all day, a Main House that will seat up to 240 (almost 100 more seats than our current Main House), a Studio Space that will seat up to 120, a dedicated space for rehearsals and education work and plenty of office space… with windows!
Whilst the additional seats will help generate more income for the theatre, there’s still a lot more to raise so we’ll be starting a fundraising campaign before we leave our current venue to enable us to fit it out properly. We’ve got a lot of work to do during this interesting new chapter in our future but we’re looking forward to updating you with images and information on our opening season along the way…
The address of the new space is 77-85 Newington Causeway, London. SE1 6BD.
UPDATE: 29.03.2012
Hi there! It’s been a while since we last updated you on our premises situation so, for those of you who are interested, here it is:
We’re very pleased to say that, with your help, we have managed to secure ourselves a home in the London Bridge Station development which completes in 2018. Network Rail have commited to giving us 1,000 sq m of space and reasonable rent on a long term lease. This has all been signed and sealed in a section 106 agreement (which makes up part of the formal planning permission) which was signed off on 29th March 2012.
Unfortunately (although not unreasonably) we do have to make way for the building works. So we’ll be leaving the arches at the end of year; our last show will be our Christmas production which ends Saturday 5th January 2013.
In the meantime though we have found a rather special new building to move to. More to follow very soon…
UPDATE: 20.12.2011
Network Rail were granted planning permission today for the new London Bridge development. The planning permission is pending a legal agreement which is due to be signed off by the end of March 2012. The provision for the Playhouse’s new long-term premises are to be outlined in the legal agreement.
UPDATE: 03.10.2011
In a letter to Southwark Council on 30 September, Network Rail confirmed that they would offer Southwark Playhouse the opportunity to take ‘leisure’ space in the final scheme.
This is fantastic news and a big step towards securing Southwark Playhouse a long term future. However, we look forward to confirming with Network Rail the details of the offer over the next few weeks.
We’d like to thank everyone who has written a letter so far to Southwark Council in support of us being including in the redevelopment. It was one of the highest responses to a planing application they’ve had, with over 1500 responses received. Network Rail’s planning application is yet to go to the committee and there is still much to discuss regarding their kind offer to include us.
There is still time until then for people to respond to the planning application and we would encourage people to continue writing in to Southwark Council using the form below.
31.07.2011
SOUTHWARK PLAYHOUSE NEEDS YOUR HELP!
As you may or may not know London Bridge Station is soon to undergo a redevelopment to cope with increased capacity and to incorporate the Thameslink line. It has the potential to be a fantastic scheme that will breathe new life in to a tired looking station and will make it (hopefully!) operate far more efficiently.
The downside of all this is that Southwark Playhouse will have to leave its current home, in the vaults beneath the tracks of the station, in December 2012 to make way for the development. Unfortunately, Network Rail have no plans to reincorporate the venue in to the new station which completes in 2018 – despite there being loads of ancillary and ‘A’ use retail space that has no impact on the good running of the railway.
While we are looking to move to one of several exciting spaces in 2013, it is likely that they will only be available on short term leases. We believe that the new station will offer us a brilliant opportunity to secure a long-term home for the theatre once the development has been completed.
We need to convince Network Rail that Southwark Playhouse will be a great benefit to the new station and the surrounding community.
Southwark Playhouse has been based in the Borough for almost 20 years. We are one of London’s leading theatres providing a platform for new and emerging theatre practitioners. Last year over 30,000 people attended our performances. Our organisation is deeply committed to the local community in which we operate.
Over the past twenty years we have developed a highly regarded and much needed education and community programme that works with thousands of local young people each year. We have developed strong links with Southwark and Lambeth schools providing term-long curriculum support to raise aspirations and academic achievement. Our Young Company, a youth led theatre company, provides training opportunities for local people aged 16-25 through producing regular productions and events.
You can view the plans for the new development (ref. 11/AP/1987) online via Southwark Council’s planning portal here:
If you agree with us and think we’d make a great inclusion in the new station you can help us by emailing your own response to Gordon Adams, the case officer at Southwark Council, on planning.applications@southwark.gov.uk
You can make you representation right up until the decision date which is currently set for the 19 October 2011.
Please make sure that you state the application number and your postal address. Comments that you submit will be published on the planning website for others to see.
ALTERNATIVELY, YOU CAN USE THE AUTOMATIC FORM BELOW…
Thanks for your time and we look forward to seeing you very soon!
The Southwark Playhouse Team
