History

Southwark Playhouse Theatre Company was founded in 1993 by Juliet Alderdice, Tom Wilson & Mehmet Ergen

Mehmet Ergen

Mehmet Ergen is a Turkish-born theatre director, producer and entrepreneur, currently based in London Borough of Hackney. Ergen came to London from Istanbul in 1989 aged 22 speaking minimal English and with no intention on settling in the Capital...

. They identified the need for a high quality accessible theatre which would also act as a major resource for the community. They leased a disused workshop in a then comparatively neglected part of Southwark

Southwark

Southwark is a district of south London, England, and the administrative headquarters of the London Borough of Southwark. Situated east of Charing Cross, it forms one of the oldest parts of London and fronts the River Thames to the north...

 and turned it into a flexible theatre space.

The theatre quickly put down strong roots in Southwark, developing an innovative, free at source, education programme. It has worked closely with teachers, Southwark Borough Council, businesses and government agencies to improve educational achievement and raise aspirations. This programme is in great demand and attracts substantial funding each year.

Over the past fifteen years the theatre has established itself as one of London's leading studio theatres, presenting high quality work by new and emerging theatre practitioners. Under successive talented artistic directors, Mehmet Ergen (now Artistic Director of the Arcola Theatre), Erica Whyman (now Artistic Director of the Northern Stage Company), Thea Sharrock

Thea Sharrock

Thea Sharrock is an award-winning English theatre director. In 2001, when at age 24 she became artistic director of London's Southwark Playhouse, she was the youngest artistic director in British theatre....

 (recently directed Equus

Equus (play)

Equus is a play by Peter Shaffer written in 1973, telling the story of a psychiatrist who attempts to treat a young man who has a pathological religious fascination with horses....

in the West End) and Gareth Machin (now Studio Associate at the National Theatre

Royal National Theatre

The Royal National Theatre in London is one of the United Kingdom's two most prominent publicly funded theatre companies, alongside the Royal Shakespeare Company...

), it has become an indispensable part of small-scale fringe theatre in London. Its venue hire rates remain among the lowest and therefore the most competitive in London theatre, providing the opportunity to host the best of the emerging companies based in or visiting the capital.

The theatre is currently run by Chris Smyrnios with support from Richard Seary (Technical Manager) and Susie Safavi (Press and Marketing Manager).

Mission statement

Southwark Playhouse's central vision is that of a vibrant theatre in the heart of the London Borough of Southwark, serving the widest possible constituency within the borough and beyond, providing a platform for emerging theatre practitioners and a programme of performance, education work and community drama.

The theatre's primary objectives are

• to produce high quality, cutting edge theatre in both traditional and non-traditional theatre environments

• to offer a fully resourced and wholly integrated education and community programme, providing opportunities for people of all ages in Southwark to engage with the borough's rich heritage and cultural potential

• to support the work of emerging theatre practitioners and companies by providing a well-equipped venue at an affordable cost, with appropriate resources and guidance

• to intertwine the artistic, education and community programmes so that fresh insights and opportunities are offered to broad sectors of users within the Southwark community

Future plans

After leaving its original home in Southwark Bridge Road in 2006, Southwark Playhouse operates in vaults beneath platform one of London Bridge railway station, accessed from Tooley Street.

YoCo

The Southwark Playhouse's internal young company is a youth lead theatre company which was established in January 2009 with Ellen Hughes as director. Since then, every year the group puts on two professional productions and an open mic event every month.
Among others, it was created with Ibrahim Shote, Judith Asman, and Lee Elston as board members.

External links

• Southwark Playhouse's website