Warehouse Theatre
Warehouse Theatre in 2007
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| Address | Dingwall Road, Croydon, CR0 2NF Croydon, London United Kingdom |
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| Coordinates | 51°22′30″N 0°05′38″W / 51.3749°N 0.0938°W |
| Owner | Warehouse Theatre Company Ltd |
| Capacity | 100 |
| Current use | Theatre performances |
| Construction | |
| Opened | 1977 |
| Closed | 2012 |
| Rebuilt | 2010 |
| Years active | 31 |
| Website | |
| www.warehousetheatre.co.uk | |
The Warehouse Theatre was a professional producing theatre with 100 seats in the centre of the London Borough of Croydon, south London, England based in an oak-beamed former cement Victorian warehouse. The theatre closed in 2012 following withdrawal of funding and the discovery, after a survey, of serious faults in the building.
The Warehouse was known for its commitment to new writing, including an annual International Playwriting Festival, in partnership with the Extra Candoni Festival of Udine in Italy and Theatro Ena in Cyprus. Youth theatre was also an important feature of the theatre, with a resident Croydon Young Peoples' Theatre (CRYPT) and including an annual collaboration with the Croydon-based Brit School.
The Warehouse Theatre was founded by Sam Kelly, Richard Ireson and Adrian Shergold when lunchtime theatre was particularly popular, 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. Respected touring companies began to visit the theatre between in-house productions. 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.
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