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SOUTHWARK PLAYHOUSE ANNOUNCES FIRST SEASON TO OPEN NEW LONDON BRIDGE VENUE

1st August 2007

Southwark Playhouse opens its new 150-seat venue on the 28th August 2007 with a site specific production of Reverence: A Tale of Abelard & Heloise, the first show in its inaugural season.

Founding members of Punchdrunk, Goat and Monkey, follow their successful production of The Ghost Sonata with an atmospheric version of the classic French love story. Southwark Playhouse’s new home in the vaults below London Bridge station provides the perfect setting for this medieval tale allowing the audience to explore our new space and beyond…
Reverence runs from Tuesday, 28th August to Saturday, 22nd September 2007. Press night is 30th August 2007 at 7.30pm.

Following Reverence, Southwark Playhouse presents its annual Shakespeare production of Richard III in collaboration with Tangram Theatre (winners of the first Better Bankside Shakespeare Award). This year, for the first time, tickets are free to both Southwark and Lambeth schools: over 30 have booked confirming the attendance of over 2000 schoolchildren for special daytime performances. As always there will be evening performances for a paying audience. Richard III is an accessible 90 minute version of Shakespeare’s play, suitable for all.
Richard III runs from Wednesday 26th September to Saturday, 20th October 2007. Press Night is 27th September at 7.30pm.

The final show will be the award winning 1930’s comedy You Can’t Take It With You by Moss Hart and George S Kaufman. Directed by Gavin McAlinden this light hearted show includes live pythons, cuddly kittens and indoor pyrotechnics!
You Can’t Take It With You runs from the Wednesday 24th October to Saturday 17th November 2007. Press Night is 25th October at 7.30pm.

With the opening of our new venue Southwark Playhouse is introducing a new ‘Airline Style’ ticketing policy. In an effort to make theatre accessible to all, at least a third of all tickets for any production will be just £7.

New Address – New Artistic Director – New Season

22 June 2007

A little under a year after leaving its original home, Southwark Playhouse is relocating to new premises. Over the next few years, while they await the completion of a purpose built theatre at the Elephant and Castle, the company will be housed in two large adjacent railway arches underneath London Bridge train station. The building is scheduled to open on the 28th September with an exciting autumn season. The team is expanding too: on 18th June, the Playhouse will advertise for a new Artistic Director.

“These new premises herald a new phase for us”, says Chris Smyrnios, Chief Executive. It’s easy to see what he means. The new theatre is more than twice the size of the old venue; the curved walls and vaulted ceilings create an atmosphere of intensity and excitement. “Audiences and directors will be presented with the best kind of theatre challenge,” says Chris. “The arches are inherently so dramatic - performances will have to match up.”

The autumn season, announced shortly, will be an eclectic mix of the best theatre; encompassing a variety of performance styles including new writing, site-specific performance, puppetry, and multimedia. It is set to be one of the Playhouse’s most popular.

The Playhouse is about to raise the number of employees to four with the appointment of a new Artistic Director. This is an exciting and challenging time to join the company, and a substantial number of applications are expected. With previous Artistic Directors including Mehmet Ergen (Artistic Director, Arcola Theatre), Erica Whyman (Artistic Director, Northern Stage) and Thea Sharrock (recently directed Equus with Daniel Radcliffe), the benchmark has been set very high.

Chris says, “This is fresh start for the Playhouse. We’ll be building on our past successes while looking to push the boundaries of our work and our organisation as a whole.”