About
We are Southwark Playhouse, a London theatre with two venues based in Elephant & Castle (Southwark Playhouse Borough and Southwark Playhouse Elephant), both offering flexible, affordable, and well-resourced performance spaces. We curate an exciting programme of theatre productions throughout the year, showcasing work by a diverse array of talented theatre professionals at all stages of their careers.
Inspiring (and responding to) our theatre work is an extensive participation programme, available completely free to participants, facilitating meaningful opportunities for our local community to explore their creativity, build confidence, and encourage well-being through drama-based activities.
History
Southwark Playhouse was founded in 1993 by Juliet Alderdice and Tom Wilson. Leasing a disused workshop, in a then comparatively neglected part of Southwark, they identified the need for a well-resourced and accessible theatre space that would serve as a place to showcase new productions by emerging theatre artists, and also be a resource for the local community in which it operates.
Since then it has established itself as one of London’s leading theatres. It curates a programme of world class theatre out of two venues situated in the Elephant and Castle area, as well as offering a varied and wide reaching programme of meaningful participation work.
Staff
Patrons Sir Michael Caine, Peter Gill OBE, Sir Simon Hughes, Andy Serkis
Board of Trustees Ken Hunt, Karen McHugh, Giles Semper, Kathryn Serkis, Glenn Wellman, Helen Whitehouse, Tim Wood (chair)
Front of House and Venue Managers Rachel Atkinson (Borough), Maya Tonkin (Elephant)
General Manager Emma Bentley
Deputy Technical Managers Francis Botu, Fergus Carver
Marketing and Communications Manager Jessica Clot
Production Associate Jethro Compton
Technical and Production Manager Lee Elston
Artistic Director & CEO Chris Smyrnios
Sales and Ticketing Manager Charlotte Spencer
Venue Cleaner Aklilu Sabew Tebeje
Duty Managers Lillian Worden
Head of Participation David Workman
Box Office and Welcome Team Max Alexander-Taylor, Gareth Hackney, Trelawny Kean, Teigan Macphee, Laura Masters, Charlotte Osborn, Olive Pascha, Emma Salvo, Frewyn Thursfield, Dan Wolff
Front of House and Bar Team Ana Amado, Amy Atkinson, Theo Buvat, Arlo Carter, Angie Chan, Ramon Duarte Ayres, Sarah Farrell, Jack Gibson, Nicola Hurst, Milla James-Lewis, Sammie John, Ewa Korda, Julia Lelewel, Suzanne-Marie Digby, Nell Mitchell, Lois Mulvenna, Helena Purvis, Charlotte Rutherford, El Simoens, Mathew Willis