The Warehouse Theatre is a
professional producing theatre with one
hundred seats in the centre of the London Borough
of Croydon
, based in an oak-beamed former cement Victorian warehouse. It is acclaimed for its commitment to new
writing, including its annual International Playwriting
Festival, in partnership with the Extra Candoni Festival of
Udine
in Italy
and Theatro
Ena in Cyprus
.
Youth
theatre is also important, with the resident Croydon Young Peoples'
Theatre (CRYPT) and including an annual collaboration with the
Croydon-based Brit
School
. Within the building there is also a popular
CaféBar.
The early years
The Warehouse Theatre was founded by Sam Kelly, Richard Ireson and
Adrian Shergold at the height of the lunchtime theatre boom with
the aim of presenting a varied season of plays with an emphasis on
new work to the highest possible standards.
The first production -
Hell's Angels on Typewriters by Angela Wye - opened in May
1977, and the then 50 seat auditorium became an instant favourite
with local audiences for lunchtime performances whilst sharing the
building with a Caribbean
night club.
In 1978, the
Arts Council recognised
the work of the theatre by awarding a major grant and in 1979 the
nightclub closed, evening performances were introduced and the
seating capacity was increased to
100. Highly respected touring companies began to visit the theatre
between in-house productions. Extremely popular cabaret evenings
were introduced, with performers including
Lenny Henry,
French & Saunders,
Rik Mayall,
Ben Elton,
and
Julian Clary. Gradually more plays
were premiered, with many being specially commissioned by
successful writers, such as
Sue
Townsend, who wrote
Groping for Words and
Womberang for the theatre.
After the withdrawal of an Arts Council grant in 1984, potential
closure was averted when the London Borough of Croydon and the
GLC agreed to replace the
grant. Following a brief closure for major refurbishment, including
the building of the bar, the theatre re-opened in 1985 under the
directorship of
Ted Craig with the
premiere of
David Allen's
Cheapside.
Now concentrating exclusively on new playwriting, initiatives such
as the South London Playwriting Festival were launched, giving an
invaluable platform to works by both new and established writers.
Kevin Hood's compelling new play
Beached won the first festival in 1986 and he later became
Resident Playwright, writing both
The Astronomer's Garden
and
Sugar Hill Blues for the theatre.
Building on success
The South London Playwriting Festival quickly became the highly
acclaimed
International Playwriting
Festival, reflecting the number of entries from all over the
globe.
Finalists have included playwrights from the
USA
, Trinidad and
Tobago
, Australia and Bulgaria
, with the
1994 winner, Dino Mahoney, being half Irish, half Greek, living in
Hong
Kong
. Dino's selected play
Yo Yo had its
premiere here in April 1995. In 1996, the Warehouse Theatre
inaugurated a partnership with the leading Italian playwriting
festival, the Premio Candoni Arta Terme and in 1999 a partnership
was also formed with Theatro Ena in Cyprus providing selected
writers with a window for further productions in Europe. The new
writers discovered by the festival have since gone from strength to
strength and further productions, radio and screen contracts, and
success with other work has followed, including
James Martin Charlton,
Sheila Dewey,
Richard Vincent,
Mark Norfolk,
Maggie
Neville and
Roumen Shomov.
The building
The Warehouse Theatre is a converted Victorian warehouse, built in
1882 for a sand, cement and lime merchant. In spite of
refurbishments, it still has several original features. There are
picture tiles from the 1880s, mostly on the cellar under the main
staircase, and a "crab" winch and wall crane of unusual design in
full working order on the side of the building. Early drawings show
that the bar, opened in 1985, is actually sited in the old stable
block, with the eating area above in the appropriately named
"Hayloft" bar.
But the Victorian charm of the building does have its less engaging
side. The removal of a false ceiling in 1981 uncovered the planked
roof and vast beams and tresses of the original holes in the
original roof to let in the original rain over audience and cast
alike.
Space is another problem. The office looks like a cupboard crossed
with a corridor and is actually another entrance to the auditorium.
In fact, until 1985 it was the entrance and many bemused latecomers
are still escorted up the backstairs and past the kitchen to avoid
walking through the scenery. With so little room to manoeuvre, one
(unnamed) actress was once forced to crawl along a wooden beam in
the roof in order to reach her entrance after she had left by the
wrong door the scene before!
But the problems have helped to encourage the ingenuity and
imagination in staging and design for which the Warehouse Theatre
is rightly acclaimed - and cheerfulness in adversity has seen staff
and audiences alike through many a minor crisis.
A secure future in Ruskin Square
For some
years a new theatre has been planned in partnership with Stanhope /
Schroders as part of their Ruskin Square
development. Designed by Foster + Partners
around a park setting with the Warehouse Theatre occupying a £5
million, 200 seat custom designed building. Although a complete
contrast to the existing Victorian warehouse, the new building has
been designed to be as intimate as possible.
Arena Planning Permission and CPO Rejected
Croydon Arena was a proposed
arena part of the Croydon
Gateway
re-generation scheme in the south London
district of
Croydon
.
The site
is next to East
Croydon station
and has been in the ownership of the rival
development Ruskin
Square. Development website:
Ruskin
Square
The Arena scheme was backed by Croydon Council with developer
partner Arrowcroft. The matter was the subject of a
public inquiry that took place from September
to November 2007.
The full decision rejecting the Planning Application and the
Compulsory Purchase Order was issued on the 31 July 2008 and the 6
August 2008. The full documentation can be found
at the public inquiry website
The Immediate Future
The Warehouse Theatre Company will remain in the present building
during the new development (delayed because of the recession) which
will enable the move to its new premises with minimal
disruption.
Fundraising Challenge
The Warehouse Theatre will be launching its largest fundraising
appeal in its 33 year history in the near future to help it launch
itself into the new building. Fundraising will be required for
finishing touches to the new building, technical equipment, launch
programme and a host of other vital expenditure to ensure the
Warehouse Theatre is launched into its new future on a firm
footing.
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