New Year, New You? Think again. 2019 saw the development of six new theatres across London, with more on the way across 2020 and 2021. Josephine Balfour-Oatts finds out more.
Remarkably, 2019 has seen a sudden expansion to London’s theatre-scene. No less than six new theatres opened across the capital this year, with further buildings set for development across 2020 and 2021. Whether this is in spite of or in conjunction with recent technological advances, it seems that there is a gnawing public appetite for live performance. This encompasses both restorative work to long-standing buildings (such as the Ally Pally), as well as the construction of new sites – some purpose-built to house particular pockets of the craft.
Take Space 18, for example. It was due to open on the 13thof April, but was delayed by more than four months. Located on New Oxford Street, the theatre spans seven buildings and 35 floors to cover a total of 25,000 square feet. Announced as London’s first arts space dedicated to showcasing immersive and experimental work, Space 18 opened its doors with the impossibly intricate horror experience,Variant 31. Featuring a cast of 120 and at 90-minutes in length, the production is Europe’s largest interactive event.
In-keeping with this extraordinary sense of scale, two venues: Troubadour White City Theatre and the Troubadour Wembley Park Theatre opened in July. Crafted by the team responsible for the fleeting Kings Cross Theatre, both spaces retain this idea of semi-permanence. Said to be 50% cheaper to rent than their West End counterparts, the buildings have a capacity of 800-1,200 and 1,000-2,000 respectively. Worryingly, the former venue’s inaugural number, Sally Cookson’s adaptation of J.M Barrie’s Peter Pan, had to close two months earlier than planned, due to reduced ticket sales.
The Boulevard, a fresh and trendy site based in Soho (and attached to an upmarket restaurant and bar), boasts a more sensible 165 seats. The theatre opened in October, with Ghost Quartet, an intoxicating new musical that has been well-received by critics and audiences alike. Pioneers of fringe theatre, the Southwark Playhouse, also expanded across two new venues – the Southwark Playhouse Elephant, a flagship 300-seater for more commercial work, and the Southwark Playhouse London Bridge, a smaller space committed to new writing and talent.
In 2020, The Kings Head Theatre – well known on the Fringe circuit – moves to a purpose-built venue complete with a 250-seat auditorium and an 85-seat studio. Also, Tottenham Court Road will be the birthplace of the first large-scale theatre to be built in the West End since the 1970’s. The New Nimax Theatre (courtesy of the Nimax Group) takes as its home the grave of the old Astoria, which will be redeveloped into an in-the-round 650-seat venue. Nicholas Hytner and Nick Starr (founders of The Bridge Theatre, built in 2017) too, are planning to develop a second space: Bridge Theatre 2 in Kings Cross for 2021.
No doubt, the demand for live art is promising for business going forward. Let’s just hope this theatrical boom doesn’t implode prematurely.
