The Grace Theatre The Latchmere Theatre |
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Theatre503 and Latchmere Pub, from Battersea Park Road
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Address | 503 Battersea Park Road London, SW11 United Kingdom |
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Coordinates | 51°28′29″N 0°09′15″W / 51.4746°N 0.1542°W |
Public transit | Clapham Junction |
Type | Fringe theatre |
Capacity | 63 seats |
Current use | Theatre |
Production | New writing |
Opened | 1982 |
Website | |
theatre503.com |
Theatre503 is located at 503 Battersea Park Road in Battersea in the London Borough of Wandsworth, above the Latchmere pub. It is a performing arts venue which specialises in groundbreaking plays. Their programme combines new plays by emerging playwrights alongside work un-revived since the 1980s/90's in their Second Look Programme. The third strand of work is made up of plays written by upcoming talent that has been picked by esteemed playwrights, such as Howard Brenton, Caryl Churchill and Timberlake Wertenbaker.
Theatre503 was founded in 1982 as an offshoot of the Gate Theatre (London), and is a custom-built studio theatre. The opening production was a new adaptation of Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, which proved so successful that the production transferred to the West End.
The original name of the theatre was linked with the pub downstairs, but in 2002 the theatre relaunched under Artistic Director Paul Higgins with a new name of Theatre503, and became a home for new writing. In November 2006 Paul Robinson and Tim Roseman were appointed as artistic directors with the specific brief to develop the profile of the theatre, and the new theatre launched with the European Premiere of The Atheist.
Since 2002, the venue has seen the premiere of more than fifty new writers, including Dennis Kelly, Phil Porter, Duncan Macmillan, Rachel Wagstaff, Alice Birch, Gabriel Bisset-Smith, Chris Urch, Jon Brittain and Phoebe Eclair-Powell. It went on to win the Peter Brook Empty Space Award, was nominated for a Time Out Live Award in 2006, and won a Olivier Award in 2010 for its production of Katori Hall's The Mountaintop. Tim Roseman left Theatre503 in October 2012 and is now Artistic Director of PlayWriting Australia. Paul Robinson opened his 1st season as sole Artistic Director with 'Desolate Heaven', a new play by Ailís Ní Ríain. In 2014 the theatre was nominated for a second Peter Brook Empty Space Award, and won the Argus Angel for Artistic Excellence for its production "Margaret Thatcher Queen of Soho".