Menier Chocolate Factory
Exterior of the theatre
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| Address |
Southwark Street London, SE1 England, United Kingdom |
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| Coordinates | 51°30′18″N 0°05′50″W / 51.5051°N 0.0972°W |
| Public transit |
  London Bridge
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| Type | Fringe theatre |
| Capacity | 180 |
| Opened | 2004 |
| Website | |
| menierchocolatefactory |
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The Menier Chocolate Factory is an 180-seat off-West End theatre, which comprises a restaurant, bar and rehearsal rooms.
It is located in a former 1870s Menier Chocolate Company factory in Southwark Street, a major street in the London Borough of Southwark, central south London, England, some 2.5 km from the theatrical West End. The theatre stages plays and musicals, live music and stand-up comedy. According to the Evening Standard, it is "one of the most dynamic fringe venues in London".
The French company Menier Chocolate Company expanded overseas and built a five-storey factory and warehouse of brick with stone dressings in London between 1865 and 1874. It was listed Grade II in 1996.
The Menier Chocolate Factory was opened in 2004 in its current incarnation, the building having been derelict since the 1980s. It is run by artistic director David Babani. In 2005, the theatre received the Peter Brook/Empty Space Up and Coming Venue Award. In the same year, he and co-founder Danielle Tarento jointly won the Evening Standard Milton Shulman Award for Outstanding Newcomer. Tarento left in 2006 to pursue a solo producing career, and was replaced by General Manager Thomas Siracusa.
In 2007 the Chocolate Factory production of the Stephen Sondheim musical Sunday in the Park with George won five Olivier Awards, including Best Actor in a Musical for Daniel Evans and Best Actress in a Musical for Jenna Russell. The pair went on to perform the lead roles when the production transferred to Studio 54 on Broadway in February 2008.
In the 2009 Olivier Awards, Douglas Hodge won the trophy for Best Actor in a Musical for his portrayal of drag queen Zaza in La Cage aux Folles. The production also won the Best Musical Revival category.
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